About Me – Robin Auer

Hey.

Hi, I'm Robin! I currently work as a designer at IBM in Germany and lead a team of user researchers in the area of Data and AI. As part of my role, I facilitate product strategy workshops with stakeholders and clients from various industries and around the world. My focus is on conducting user research activities with our clients to integrate them into our development lifecycle. I hold an M.A. in Communication Design from the University of Applied Sciences in Konstanz, Germany. Since 2013 I have been a lecturer for strategic design in the same program. I am a member of the German Design Club (DDC) and was on the board from 2021 to 2024. Since 2024 I'm part of the advisory board of the CreativeDays in Stuttgart. I am an author and publicist for the eJournal "Sprache für die Form". And in recent years I have been part of several juries in different design disciplines. Since 2020 I'm also part of the Student Service Design Challenge team and responsible for the collaboration between IBM and the organizing team.

I'm Robin! Nice to meet you.—I currently work as a designer at IBM in Germany and lead a team of user researchers of projects in the field of Data and AI. As part of my role, I facilitate worldwide product and strategy workshops with stakeholders and clients from various industries. I hold an M.A. in Communication Design from the Konstanz University of Applied Sciences. Since 2013 I have been a lecturer in the same program. I am a member of the German Designer Club (DDC) and have been part of the board since 2021. For the eJournal Language for the Form, I am an author and publicist.

Work experience

Design Researcher and UX Designer
IBM

FEB. 2017 – Present

Senior Lecturer
HTWG Konstanz University of Applied Sciences

SEP. 2013 – Present

Design Researcher
UBS

AUG. 2015 – JUL. 2016

Visual Designer
bodenseecrew

MAR. 2009 – OCT. 2015

Visual Designer for On-Air Graphics
Red Bull Media House (netventure film)

AUG. 2010 – SEP. 2014

Work Student Digital Lab
HTWG Konstanz University of Applied Sciences

SEP. 2011 – JAN. 2013

UX/UI Designer
Tojio GmbH

JAN. 2010 – AUG. 2010

From 2011 to 2014 I was part of the organizing team of the TEDxBodensee event. After completing my Master's degree in 2015, I worked for the Y Think Tank of UBS AG in Zurich. The interdisciplinary team developed future scenarios and visions using design-scientific and social-scientific methods. Following the principles of critical design and speculative design, the visions were communicated to the outside world using design fiction methods.

In February 2017, I joined IBM Design, where I'm increasingly working on user-centered solutions for complex, digital applications. As an IBM facilitator, I'm responsible for design thinking workshops. In 2018, I became an official Enterprise Design Thinking Coach. And for working with students in the DACH region, I became an Advocate for Enterprise Design Thinking. I was a member of the AIGA network in the United States and the Design Research Society in the United Kingdom. I'm still a member of the German Society for Design Theory and Research (DGTF) and the German Designer Club (DDC).