Lecturers

Barbara is an interior designer, scenographer and university lecturer. As creative director at Aroma Zurich she creates exhibitions, spatial designs and narrative spaces. Her career includes significant roles at renowned agencies across Germany, China, and Switzerland, including Schmidhuber Munich and Bellprat Zurich. Barbara's academic background encompasses studies in interior design at Rosenheim and Copenhagen, as well as Ethnology in Zurich and Munich. She furthered her education with courses at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) and the University of Zurich. For her doctoral thesis in philosophical aesthetics and cultural studies at the University of Potsdam, Germany, she explored themes of perception and atmosphere. Currently, she teaches design theory and practice at ZHdK and the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU).

Interview
Book

Beatrice Durrer Eggerschwiler studied agriculture at ETH Zürich and earned an urban and community development MA at HSLU. Since 2004, she has taught and researched at HSLU SA in socio-spatial development, neighborhood, urban, and community development processes, social sustainability in spatial contexts, socio-spatial planning processes, and participation and cooperation processes.

More info in the HSLU-Profile

For many years, Bernhard von Allmen has been working at the intersection of humans, computers, and machines. As an experienced usability and software engineer, he bridges the gap between user needs and the capabilities of modern technology through his own company. His primary goal is to develop solutions where technology serves people – not the other way around. A significant part of his career has been dedicated to medical technology, where designing safe and user-friendly products is crucial. He consistently looks beyond the boundaries of traditional engineering. As a coach and trainer in UX strategy and UX leadership, he shares his expertise while continuously exploring new perspectives and topics. And, on a side note: he loves dogs.

Infinity Approach
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Caroline Paulick-Thiel is a strategic designer experienced in developing and leading participatory processes to address public challenges. Since 2015, she has been the Director of politicsfortomorrow.eu. This non-partisan initiative promotes public transformation and collaborates with political-administrative institutions from the local to the highest federal level in Germany.

Christian Schneider is a computer scientist, researcher, and artist who investigates and integrates computational methods into Design, Data Visualization, and Data Science. He received an MSc in Computer Science from the University of Neuchâtel (CH) and the University of Århus (DK) and was admitted to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (US). Christian worked for the Centre for Advanced Visualization and Interaction in Århus (DK), MTV World in Auckland (NZ), Chair for Information Architecture at ETH Zurich (CH), Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore (SG), the Statistics Office in Zurich (CH) and the University Hospital Regensburg (DE). He has also taught workshops at ETH Zurich (CH) and the University of Applied Sciences Chur (CH). When Christian is not teaching, he is most likely to be found working for companies or institutions in quest of revealing hidden gems in their data.

Christof Arn began his journey in the field of ethics with a doctorate in ethics in 2000. He obtained a second doctorate in 2007, focusing on the topic of "ethics transfer." Since then, Arn has dedicated his career to the study and application of ethics in various fields. He worked as an ethics researcher, author, and consultant for companies and as an ethics trainer and lecturer at universities.
From 2010 to 2018, Arn served as Head of the Center for Learning and Teaching at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts.
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Twitter

Christoph Fischer is a freelance Illustrator and drawing teacher in Lucerne. He works for newspapers (editorial design) and produces art and book projects. Some examples of his work include:

• Book "Während ich schlief" with drawings of his dreams
• Reportage drawing projects "Chicago Westside", "Bahnhofplatz Luzern"
• Long-term documentation of "Teufelskreisel Kreuzstutz" and the sculpture "Heinz"

Instagram: #christophfischer_illustration

Clive Antony Grinyer has had an extensive career leading design teams at prominent companies such as IDEO, Samsung, Cisco, Barclays Bank, and Orange. He also headed the Service Design Master’s course at the Royal College of Art (RCA) in London. Currently, he is involved in managing research projects, acting as a strategic advisor to Bosch, and providing training in service design.

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Daniele Catalanotto is a Service Design nerd, practitioner, author, and educator who tries to make Service Design simple for anyone. Since March 2024, Daniele co-leads the MA Service Design with Andy Polaine.

He founded the Swiss Innovation Academy in 2019, supporting over 13,000 individuals, and taught in academia and enterprises. He has been the president of the Service Design Network Switzerland Chapter since 2023. From 2019 to 2024, he worked as an "Innovation Coach" for the Salvation Army, crafting strategies for various Salvation Army territories, regions and departments. He worked as a consultant at Good Innovation and Enigma from 2014 to 2018. In his consultancy and freelance work, Daniele has helped organisations like The British Heart Foundation (BHF), The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), Daimler China, Ricola Thailand, Raiffeisen, IKEA, RTS, Romande Energie, Camille Bloch, EWZ, the City of Carouge, and more. Daniele holds a Master of Arts in Service Design from HSLU, Lucerne University and a Bachelor of Arts from ECAL, Ecole cantonale d’art de Lausanne.
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Danilo Biella is a demystifier, problem solver, lifetime learner, modern workstyle advocate, early adapter, and evolutionary humanist.
After graduating from ETH with a Master's in Computer Science, he has concentrated on quality aspects in software engineering. While his struggle for better quality continues, his focus has expanded to include analyzing development processes in projects. Over the past decade, he has gained experience working in multi-continental teams and various setups and technologies, including non-software contexts. 
Danilo is actively involved in community work; he co-organizes the /ch/open Workshoptage and Agile Breakfast Luzern. He lectures and leads workshops on modern workstyles in schools, communities, conferences, projects, and organizations undergoing change - both online and on stage - often with a flair of satire or passionate commentary about false agile practices. Lately, he has been producing explainer videoson current topics.
In his free time, Danilo enjoys reading and discussing philosophy and sociology topics, playing card and board games, and having lengthy disputes over or about a glass of wine.

YouTube

Nicole Lachenmeier and Darjan Hil, partners in Superdot, are specialists in information design to visualize complexity. Superdot‘s clients include companies, NGOs, government agencies, and universities. Their work has received several awards, including the German Press Agency Award and the Information is Beautiful Award. Lachenmeier and Hil have been teaching for six years and are currently publishing a book on their methods. 
Modular Information Design Handbook

Francesco Caras explores what it means to design in the current epoch: the Anthropocene. His focus is on digital: an industry that is both a key driver of ecological transition and a significant cause of ecological disruption. A former Design Director at Nokia, Sapient, IconMedialab, and  Ecologia Digitale (Altreconomia, 2022), he examines this paradox and outlines some solutions for digital sustainability. Francesco teaches ecodesign to undergraduate students at IED Milan and to master students at Politecnico di Milano and campaigns for the Right to Repair as part of Repair EU. 

François Chambard is a designer and maker. In 2004, he started UM Project (Users & Makers) at the crossroads of function and fiction, yielding experiments and unusual goods. Recently, the practice has evolved into Unblock, where human technology and the spirit of things collide. Unblock focuses on neurodiversity and its positive impact on the design process.

Gregor Finger is co-founder of the Oslo-based spatial design startup Ordinary Objects. OO aims to make prototyping spatial experiences exponentially more intuitive, powerful, and fun. Previously, he worked as a Creative Technologist and Spatial Computing Lead, conceptualizing, prototyping, and leading R&D and commercial projects for leading international brands such as IKEA and BMW.
LinkedIn

James Dudley earned his diploma from Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, and was a guest student at the Städelschule, Frankfurt. Before running his own studio, Dudley combined his interest in experience and 3D design at Atelier Markgraph, Imagination. His projects include stages for Mercedes Benz at the Frankfurt motor show, the body zone at the Millennium Dome, and the flagship store for Victorinox in London.
Dudley offers remote Sprint workshops for organizations that need to quickly innovate,  prototype and test solutions. Recently he led a two-year research and development program at the National Portrait Gallery, helping to reshape and increase the relevance of the nation's family album.
LinkedIn

Joe Macleod is founder of the world’s first customer-ending business. A veteran of the product development industry, Macleod has decades of experience across service, digital, and product sectors. Author of the book Ends, hailed by iFixIt1 as “the best book about consumer e-waste.” Macleod is head of Endineering at AndEnd and is a TEDx Speaker. Described by Wired as “an energetic Englishman, Macleod advises companies on how to game out their endgames. Every product faces a cycle of endings, from breakage to customer burnout to falling behind consumption trends. It‘s important to plan for each of them. Not all companies do.

Joey Guidone studied at the European Institute of Design (IED) in Turin and MiMaster in Milan. Since 2015 he has worked as a freelance illustrator with newspapers, magazines, advertising agencies, book publishers, and corporate communication studios. Guidone works mainly for US clients such as The New York Times, ESPN, Apple, and Adobe and occasionally collaborates with leading Italian magazines and newspapers. Guidone has received numerous awards from the NY Society of Illustrators, Communication Arts, 3x3, Association of Illustrators (AOI), and Applied Arts.

Jürgen Buchinger is an artist and researcher specializing in sound and media art. He holds a Master of Arts degree in Film and is currently completing his artistic PhD project, which focuses on time-based art practices in urban public spaces. His research-based approach emphasizes experimentation, and aims to include nature and non-human entities. Jürgen utilizes artistic artifacts as vehicles to convey knowledge, using the poetic application of data as an emotional trigger to explore the complexities of our world. Currently, he is particularly interested in the sonification of environmental data and listening as a practice to transcend human time scales. His works have been exhibited internationally in both group and solo exhibitions.

Kris Krois founded the transdisciplinary and practice-based MA in Eco-Social Design at the Free University of Bozen–Bolzano. Together with students, teachers, and partners from design, art, science, activism, and entrepreneurship, he is co-developing design practices, tools, and structures that contribute to social-ecological transformations towards more solidary, resilient, and sustainable modes of living and production. Since 2013 he has been organizing the annual conference By Design or by Disaster. He is a founding member of the research cluster trans-form, Zukunftspakt – Patto per il Futuro, lab:bz, and Scientists for Future South Tyrol. He is engaged in diverse transformation-oriented arenas, always trying to draw together things, ideas, and actors to unfold positive societal changes.

Kristel Van Ael is co-owner of Namahn, where she specializes in strategic design and knowledge development. At Namahn, she continually develops new methods and tools for both internal and external use. Kristel enjoys complex challenges and achieving results in a methodological way. She excels in co-creation, transferring her expertise to others, and helping indivuals and organisations thrive. She is the lead author of the Service Design Toolkits and the Systemic Design Toolkits, and co-author of a book on Systemic Design Methodology. At the University of Antwerp (Product Development), Kristel is co-teacher in product-service-systemic design and lead teacher in systemic design.

Laura Helfer is a designer with 15 years of agency experience, specializing in crafting designs which seamlessly integrate UX and digital branding. Her work aims to serve users' needs in a functional manner and evoke emotional engagement. She works at Liip, a self-organized and forward-thinking tech and design agency, where she has taken on multiple roles, including user researcher, interaction designer, brand designer, and business developer. Previously, she worked at agencies in Zürich and London. She holds Master’s degrees in Branding from the University of the Arts, London and Human Computer Interaction Design from Ostschweizer Fachhochschule, Switzerland.  
For the past four years, Laura has taught at HSLU and Fachhochschule Graubünden, sharing her UX and digital branding expertise with students.

Lea Schmidt is a research associate at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and a doctoral candidate at TU Dresden‘s chair of Industrial Design Engineering. Her research focuses on sustainability, design, and technology, emphasizing material circularity and its design implications.

More info in the HSLU-Profile

Lee Moreau is the founding director of Other Tomorrows, a design and strategy studio based in Boston. Over the past two decades, Lee has directed service and experience design projects for leading organizations like Southwest Airlines, BBVA, Google, P&G, Nike, Eli Lilly, Hilton, Kaiser-Permanente, Chili's, Novartis, Jamba, and Lincoln Center that blur the boundaries between content and experience. Before founding Other Tomorrows in 2019, Lee was the VP of Design at EPAM Continuum, the Director of Environments at 2×4, and worked as a designer at IDEO and the Rockwell Group. When not in the studio, Lee podcasts for Design Observer or teaches design, strategy, and innovation courses at Northeastern University's College of Arts, Media, and Design, where he is the Professor of Practice Design.

Marco Steinberg is Founder, and CEO of Snowcone & Haystack, a Helsinki based strategic design practice focused on helping governments innovate. He specializes in issues of development, transformation, and institutional innovation.

From 2008-2013 Steinberg was Director of Strategic Design at Sitra, the Finnish Innovation Fund, where he established the fund’s strategic design capability. He launched a portfolio of public governance innovation initiatives, including Helsinki Design Lab  and Low2No. From 1999-2009 he served as Associate Professor at the Harvard Design School, where he led the Stroke Pathways Project, a system redesign approach to health delivery in the US. 

Steinberg holds degrees from the Rhode Island School of Design and Harvard University. In 2020 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Delft Technical University (TU Delft).

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Marta Lago is a healthcare innovation and design expert. She is a Global Innovation Lead at a major biotech company, where she is responsible for driving the design and implementation of strategic solutions to improve patient's lives and health outcomes while maximizing the value of their therapies. An innovator in the healthcare ecosystem, Lago's work focuses on organizational change toward human centricity and creating new spaces for collaboration. Before healthcare, Lago led or supported the creation of new services in different sectors (fintech, scientific publishing, FMCG, etc.) with a human-centric approach. Her understanding of the innovation process helped address the complexity of healthcare innovation. 
Lago holds a master’s degree in Engineering from University of the Basque Country (Spain) and University Fridericiana of Karlsruhe (Germany) and a master’s degree in design from Royal College of Art in London (UK). She regularly engages in academic exploration and teaching human-centered design, research, and entrepreneurship-related topics.

Matt Jones has been designing digital products and services since 1995. Most recently, he served as Head of Design at Lunar Energy, a company dedicated to building the world’s leading clean energy products for large scale home electrification. From 2013 to 2021, he worked at Google as a Principal Designer, primarily focusing on advanced AI concepts for hardware and software within Google Research. Prior to that from 2009-2013, he was a principal at BERG, a design and invention company in London that showcased projects at MoMA and had products featured in publications such as FT, FastCompany, Wired, and Marvel comics.

Matt initially studied Architecture and has been writing about interaction and experience design on his blog, Petafloptimism, for 25 years. He has also taught design at renowned institutions such as the Royal College of Art, Goldsmiths, the School of Visual Arts, Umeå University, and the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design. 

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Minh-Nguyet Le is an inspiring mentor and community builder dedicated to fostering collaboration and engagement through design. With a strong foundation in Feminist Science and Technology Studies (STS), she passionately creates inclusive and compelling content and spaces in digital and analog formats. Minh earned a Master of Fine Arts in Transdisciplinary Design from Parsons, The New School. She pursued her doctoral studies at the University of Potsdam, Germany, within the Faculty of Economics & Social Sciences. Her valuable experience includes research roles at the Centre for Digital Cultures and the VA PEPR project at HSLU, where she has contributed to innovative forms of public engagement.

Nadja Schmid-Cadonau leads Soultank AG, a UX agency based in Zurich. She is dedicated to improving the design of digital products and processes to better meet users' needs and exceed their expectations. Together with her team, Nadja supports well-known companies to connect with their customers more effectively. They prioritize putting people at the center of development processes, which facilitates continuous product optimization, fosters new ideas, and streamlines workflows. This approach ultimately leads to cost savings and increased revenues. An external perspective is, therefore, of central importance to their work.

Nando Schmidlin is a Sustainable Design Strategist at Milani design & consulting. Nando studied industrial design in Zurich and completed the MA International Design Business Management / Creative Sustainability in Helsinki in 2018. At Milani, he supports circular design efforts for clients who deliver for example power tools, medical injectors or washing machines.
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Sabato Urciuoli is a London-based Italian Design Director with 15 years of experience working globally, leading and executing immersive products and experiences from the initial idea to the day-to-day crafting. His focus includes Design Research, Product Design, and Visual Systems. Until recently, he led the design team at Jadu AR. Pioneers in the AR field, they developed the first multiplayer augmented reality fighting game for mobile.
LinkedIn

Sabine Fink is a researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest,
Snow and Landscape Research WSL and lecturer at ETH Zürich. Her work includes ecological habitat modelling and simulations of the dispersal of less mobile organisms that occur in typical floodplain habitats (plants, fungi, lichens, animals).

Samuel Huber is an entrepreneur and researcher on a mission to introduce planetary perspectives to organizations. As founder and board member of For Planet Strategy Lab, he collaborates with organizations to prototype new ways of crafting strategies that create regenerative value. His approach is grounded on his Ph.D. research, where he developed the concept of “Strategizing as Prototyping,” which earned him the Dr. Peter Wehrhahn Prize for his outstanding academic contribution. In his previous role as strategy director for the leading Japanese design firm Goodpatch, Samuel introduced innovative research, strategy, and venture practices, significantly contributing to the firm's successful IPO. He also led various projects for clients such as Mercedes Benz, E.ON, Aaron.ai (now Doctolib), Toyota, and many more. His academic journey spans sociology, economics, management, and design, with studies at the Universities of Zurich, St. Gallen, Stanford, and Keio in Tokyo.

HSLU-Profile
  

Simon de Diesbach co-founded the studio fragmentin.com, focusing on interactive installations following his BA in Media & Interactive Design at ECAL. In 2018, he pursued a Master’s in Film at HSLU D&K, directing the animated short “Limits,” which premiered at the Locarno Film Festival. Simon’s work explores new tech and aesthetics, emphasizing environmental and social themes. Currently, he is involved in VR installations and an animated film. He also gives workshops in animation and design at various Swiss schools of applied arts and universities..
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Teresa Palmieri is a design researcher and lecturer at the Faculty of Design and Art at unibz. She graduated in Design at unibz, holds a Master’s in Social Design from DAE, and a PhD in Architecture from UHasselt. Her research focuses on Participatory Design as a tool for promoting just and sustainable eco-social transformation in public, everyday, and organizational realms. 
Teresa is experienced in developing and implementing design methodologies, such as design patterns, collaborative prototyping, and mapping to facilitate collaboration in social and community-based design projects. Her research has been conducted within the framework of various EU-funded projects including CAPA.CITY (JPI Urban Europe), DIL (European Social Fund), iNEST (PNRR) and Change Agents (Erasmus+). Teresa has presented her research at international conferences such as PDC’18 & PDC’22, EAEA14, SDN Conference, and By Design or By Disaster. Additionally, her work has been published in scientific journals including CoDesign, Design Studies, and European Planning Studies. She also serves as a facilitator for the Eco-Social Design Special interest group within the Social Design Network.

Yaniv Steiner participates in the convergence of humans and technology. For three decades, he has worked with companies, governments, and academia to design user-centered solutions which bridge the gap between humans and computers. Steiner helps people connect with their purpose by tapping into their creativity to design meaningful and fulfilling interactions.