Thomas Otto
@thotto.bsky.social
Head of User Experience at Wandelbots | Experience Leadership | Navigating Complexity
»Because LLMs cannot do this; they cannot even help you do this, because the doing of the work is how that shared mental model comes into being to begin with.« the hardest part to create, to preserve together with a momentum of learning. Dies so fast. @spavel.bsky.social #ux #product
January 20, 2026 at 7:02 PM
»Because LLMs cannot do this; they cannot even help you do this, because the doing of the work is how that shared mental model comes into being to begin with.« the hardest part to create, to preserve together with a momentum of learning. Dies so fast. @spavel.bsky.social #ux #product
»It is easier to design the feature in isolation than to investigate what context it will appear in.
It is easier to smear GenAI over everything than it is to figure out whether the bottleneck users face is even technological in nature.«
Nothing to add. @spavel.bsky.social .
#product #ai
It is easier to smear GenAI over everything than it is to figure out whether the bottleneck users face is even technological in nature.«
Nothing to add. @spavel.bsky.social .
#product #ai
January 11, 2026 at 12:32 PM
»It is easier to design the feature in isolation than to investigate what context it will appear in.
It is easier to smear GenAI over everything than it is to figure out whether the bottleneck users face is even technological in nature.«
Nothing to add. @spavel.bsky.social .
#product #ai
It is easier to smear GenAI over everything than it is to figure out whether the bottleneck users face is even technological in nature.«
Nothing to add. @spavel.bsky.social .
#product #ai
Enjoy @johncutle.fish view on the different layers of the #customerproblem. I experienced most challenging layer 1 to 3. Which mostly got in conflicting entanglement between people: Company vs. Department vs. Users. It’s rarely as easy as »Go talk to customers, and figure out what the problem is!«
December 18, 2025 at 10:18 AM
Enjoy @johncutle.fish view on the different layers of the #customerproblem. I experienced most challenging layer 1 to 3. Which mostly got in conflicting entanglement between people: Company vs. Department vs. Users. It’s rarely as easy as »Go talk to customers, and figure out what the problem is!«
Can't agree more.
November 1, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Can't agree more.
»No amount of outputs will help maintain unbroken intent all the way through to delivery.« @spavel.bsky.social
Let's repeat this together.
#ux #productdevelpoment
Let's repeat this together.
#ux #productdevelpoment
October 28, 2025 at 10:35 AM
»No amount of outputs will help maintain unbroken intent all the way through to delivery.« @spavel.bsky.social
Let's repeat this together.
#ux #productdevelpoment
Let's repeat this together.
#ux #productdevelpoment
»Collaboration is contextual: Sometimes it's high collaboration. Sometimes transactional.« one of the things @johncutle.fish shared yesterday some of the findings and best practices from his #product work with dotwork.com understanding companies, their #operationmodel and how to map and improve it.
September 19, 2025 at 5:51 AM
»Collaboration is contextual: Sometimes it's high collaboration. Sometimes transactional.« one of the things @johncutle.fish shared yesterday some of the findings and best practices from his #product work with dotwork.com understanding companies, their #operationmodel and how to map and improve it.
Had a great dinner with other #design #ux leaders before the Hatch Conference in #Berlin. We found ourselves talking about the same things: power structures, motivation of teams, and how titles rarely reflect the real work. It was a good reminder of how valuable an empathetic network of peers can be
September 13, 2025 at 6:35 AM
Had a great dinner with other #design #ux leaders before the Hatch Conference in #Berlin. We found ourselves talking about the same things: power structures, motivation of teams, and how titles rarely reflect the real work. It was a good reminder of how valuable an empathetic network of peers can be
After working with many product companies and its many shapes and now reading Diana Wright's »Thinking in Systems« hits different:
September 13, 2025 at 4:55 AM
After working with many product companies and its many shapes and now reading Diana Wright's »Thinking in Systems« hits different:
Every time I read about companies new approach to infurse #Ai into their product, I think about: »There's no AI strategy without a data strategy« — #Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman.
September 5, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Every time I read about companies new approach to infurse #Ai into their product, I think about: »There's no AI strategy without a data strategy« — #Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman.
»The value of research doesn’t come from elevating people who are already shouting. It comes from finding the people who are not being heard, and adding their voices to the conversation.« uxdesign.cc/nikes-25b-bl...
Contextualisation is the hardest part. Taking the time to look closer.
Contextualisation is the hardest part. Taking the time to look closer.
Nike’s $25B blunder shows us the limits of “data-driven”
The illusion of data as “objective” conceals that it rarely shows you the whole picture. Making decisions based on the easiest data to…
uxdesign.cc
August 29, 2025 at 12:32 PM
»The value of research doesn’t come from elevating people who are already shouting. It comes from finding the people who are not being heard, and adding their voices to the conversation.« uxdesign.cc/nikes-25b-bl...
Contextualisation is the hardest part. Taking the time to look closer.
Contextualisation is the hardest part. Taking the time to look closer.
@spavel.bsky.social Enjoying your newsletter. One question: We have to train people what is good and how quality looks like? Since the fast way is undermining the slow learning, help enable critical thinking?
#productpicnic #design #auraux #ai
#productpicnic #design #auraux #ai
August 19, 2025 at 5:19 AM
@spavel.bsky.social Enjoying your newsletter. One question: We have to train people what is good and how quality looks like? Since the fast way is undermining the slow learning, help enable critical thinking?
#productpicnic #design #auraux #ai
#productpicnic #design #auraux #ai
»[...]main driver of the scaling is not the technology. It’s the permission structure created by AI mandates — setting a lower bar for quality is inextricable from AI adoption, especially when the managers driving it set “adopt AI” as the objective rather than as [...] something of real value.«
August 18, 2025 at 7:53 PM
»[...]main driver of the scaling is not the technology. It’s the permission structure created by AI mandates — setting a lower bar for quality is inextricable from AI adoption, especially when the managers driving it set “adopt AI” as the objective rather than as [...] something of real value.«
Design influence doesn’t just happen.
It emerges in the spaces between teams, structures, and decisions.
I explore some thoughts in my new essay.
thomas-otto.net/thoughts/des...
#DesignLeadership #ExperienceDesign #DesignMaturity #UX #DesignInfluence
It emerges in the spaces between teams, structures, and decisions.
I explore some thoughts in my new essay.
thomas-otto.net/thoughts/des...
#DesignLeadership #ExperienceDesign #DesignMaturity #UX #DesignInfluence
Design influence doesn’t just happen. It emerges. - Thomas Otto - Strategic Design and Design Leadership
Design influence doesn’t just happen — it emerges in the spaces between teams, decisions, and systems. This essay explores how design shapes strategy, culture, and structure when the conditions for re...
thomas-otto.net
August 3, 2025 at 5:52 AM
Design influence doesn’t just happen.
It emerges in the spaces between teams, structures, and decisions.
I explore some thoughts in my new essay.
thomas-otto.net/thoughts/des...
#DesignLeadership #ExperienceDesign #DesignMaturity #UX #DesignInfluence
It emerges in the spaces between teams, structures, and decisions.
I explore some thoughts in my new essay.
thomas-otto.net/thoughts/des...
#DesignLeadership #ExperienceDesign #DesignMaturity #UX #DesignInfluence
#Design rarely works only where it’s visible. The real work happens in the spaces between teams and decisions, where questions, direction, and trust take shape.
This fascinated and challenged me over the years. Timing, context are key here. That's why it will be the topic of my upcoming essay.
This fascinated and challenged me over the years. Timing, context are key here. That's why it will be the topic of my upcoming essay.
August 1, 2025 at 7:07 AM
#Design rarely works only where it’s visible. The real work happens in the spaces between teams and decisions, where questions, direction, and trust take shape.
This fascinated and challenged me over the years. Timing, context are key here. That's why it will be the topic of my upcoming essay.
This fascinated and challenged me over the years. Timing, context are key here. That's why it will be the topic of my upcoming essay.
»When you create something new, you're destroying something old. That's the price of creation in progress. The real problem with extreme creative ambition is that no matter how high you climb, it will never feel like enough.«
#Creativity #creativeprocess
youtu.be/0xWQMbEEQ-A...
#Creativity #creativeprocess
youtu.be/0xWQMbEEQ-A...
Why Creative Success Destroys People
YouTube video by Design Theory
youtu.be
July 27, 2025 at 6:54 AM
»When you create something new, you're destroying something old. That's the price of creation in progress. The real problem with extreme creative ambition is that no matter how high you climb, it will never feel like enough.«
#Creativity #creativeprocess
youtu.be/0xWQMbEEQ-A...
#Creativity #creativeprocess
youtu.be/0xWQMbEEQ-A...
Experience gehört nicht an den Rand.
Sondern dorthin, wo Entscheidungen fallen.
Ich war zu Gast bei Pixel + Profit – über Verantwortung, UX und warum Strukturen entscheidend sind.
#UX #Leadership #ExperienceDesign
open.spotify.com/episode/2uTJ...
Sondern dorthin, wo Entscheidungen fallen.
Ich war zu Gast bei Pixel + Profit – über Verantwortung, UX und warum Strukturen entscheidend sind.
#UX #Leadership #ExperienceDesign
open.spotify.com/episode/2uTJ...
#12 "UX gehört ins Leadership - als strategische Stimme des Unternehmens" mit Thomas Otto
Pixels + Profit · Episode
open.spotify.com
July 25, 2025 at 7:45 AM
Experience gehört nicht an den Rand.
Sondern dorthin, wo Entscheidungen fallen.
Ich war zu Gast bei Pixel + Profit – über Verantwortung, UX und warum Strukturen entscheidend sind.
#UX #Leadership #ExperienceDesign
open.spotify.com/episode/2uTJ...
Sondern dorthin, wo Entscheidungen fallen.
Ich war zu Gast bei Pixel + Profit – über Verantwortung, UX und warum Strukturen entscheidend sind.
#UX #Leadership #ExperienceDesign
open.spotify.com/episode/2uTJ...
I am working on an essay about #crosscollaboration and #design role in it. Re-visiting some books and articles. From my own experience, the work is highly satisfying, and can create great impact. But also has its downsides with coordination and over communication. What's your take? #ux
July 23, 2025 at 6:30 AM
I am working on an essay about #crosscollaboration and #design role in it. Re-visiting some books and articles. From my own experience, the work is highly satisfying, and can create great impact. But also has its downsides with coordination and over communication. What's your take? #ux
»Those products won because they made powerful, highly technical tools accessible through thoughtful design. The biggest barrier to mass #AI adoption is not capability or intelligence; we have those in spades. It's #UX.«
thenanyu.com/ux.html?utm_...
thenanyu.com/ux.html?utm_...
AI adoption is a UX problem
We have plenty of intelligence. The problem is making it usable
thenanyu.com
July 19, 2025 at 6:28 AM
»Those products won because they made powerful, highly technical tools accessible through thoughtful design. The biggest barrier to mass #AI adoption is not capability or intelligence; we have those in spades. It's #UX.«
thenanyu.com/ux.html?utm_...
thenanyu.com/ux.html?utm_...
»How can we use #AI to support creative and #criticalthinking, to provoke, to surprise, to even create nonsense? Which other roles, which other metaphors can we use to open new paradigms for designing through and with AI?«
aid-lab.hfg-gmuend.de/articles/rec...
aid-lab.hfg-gmuend.de/articles/rec...
Reclaiming the Process – Thoughts on the Role of Designers in the Age of AI | AI+D Lab
This article shares some thoughts in preparation for the re shape 2025 conference.
aid-lab.hfg-gmuend.de
July 16, 2025 at 5:05 PM
»How can we use #AI to support creative and #criticalthinking, to provoke, to surprise, to even create nonsense? Which other roles, which other metaphors can we use to open new paradigms for designing through and with AI?«
aid-lab.hfg-gmuend.de/articles/rec...
aid-lab.hfg-gmuend.de/articles/rec...
What happens when #design disappears from the conversation? #GenAI moves fast, but meaning, context, and clarity still matter.
A few thoughts on #experience, strategy, and where we still make a difference.
#ExperienceLeadership #DesignStrategy #DesignLeadership
thomas-otto.net/thoughts/exp...
A few thoughts on #experience, strategy, and where we still make a difference.
#ExperienceLeadership #DesignStrategy #DesignLeadership
thomas-otto.net/thoughts/exp...
Experience Leadership in the Age of GenAI - Thomas Otto - Strategic Design and Design Leadership
What happens to experience leadership when AI speeds everything up but no one can explain why something works? This essay explores how design can stay meaningful in fast-moving environments. Not by ow...
thomas-otto.net
July 15, 2025 at 6:09 AM
What happens when #design disappears from the conversation? #GenAI moves fast, but meaning, context, and clarity still matter.
A few thoughts on #experience, strategy, and where we still make a difference.
#ExperienceLeadership #DesignStrategy #DesignLeadership
thomas-otto.net/thoughts/exp...
A few thoughts on #experience, strategy, and where we still make a difference.
#ExperienceLeadership #DesignStrategy #DesignLeadership
thomas-otto.net/thoughts/exp...
»#AI can generate a thousand user personas in minutes. But it can’t replicate the intuitive understanding of how behavioral patterns actually affect #experience design, or how tiny shifts in service touchpoints change how customers feel about a brand.«
medium.com/@relei-app/w...
medium.com/@relei-app/w...
Why Design Leaders Who Obsess Over Craft Are Actually Being Strategic
A contrarian take on the craft vs. strategy debate that’s dividing design leadership
medium.com
July 9, 2025 at 4:41 PM
»#AI can generate a thousand user personas in minutes. But it can’t replicate the intuitive understanding of how behavioral patterns actually affect #experience design, or how tiny shifts in service touchpoints change how customers feel about a brand.«
medium.com/@relei-app/w...
medium.com/@relei-app/w...
We don’t click buttons.
We interact with decisions.
Recommendations. Filters. Flags.
Design is no longer just surface work. It’s about shaping the #algorithmic systems that shape us.
medium.com/@thomasotto_...
We interact with decisions.
Recommendations. Filters. Flags.
Design is no longer just surface work. It’s about shaping the #algorithmic systems that shape us.
medium.com/@thomasotto_...
Behind the Interface, Before the Output
Designing algorithmic systems where decisions are made, not just shown
medium.com
July 8, 2025 at 7:00 AM
We don’t click buttons.
We interact with decisions.
Recommendations. Filters. Flags.
Design is no longer just surface work. It’s about shaping the #algorithmic systems that shape us.
medium.com/@thomasotto_...
We interact with decisions.
Recommendations. Filters. Flags.
Design is no longer just surface work. It’s about shaping the #algorithmic systems that shape us.
medium.com/@thomasotto_...
»Good design is fundamentally about clarity over style and accountability over indifference.« @johnmaeda.bsky.social
www.linkedin.com/pulse/good-l...
www.linkedin.com/pulse/good-l...
Good Leaders Design for Clarity, Not Just Transparency
When I wrote for HBR in 2009 that leaders should strive for clarity, not just transparency, I was wrestling with lessons learned at the intersection of leadership and design. Back then, I threw myself...
www.linkedin.com
July 8, 2025 at 5:00 AM
»Good design is fundamentally about clarity over style and accountability over indifference.« @johnmaeda.bsky.social
www.linkedin.com/pulse/good-l...
www.linkedin.com/pulse/good-l...
Formulating a new essay around #genAI and its influence on #design in organizations. Collecting some examples, where you can see a product or service falling apart. Where you can see the gaps in alignment and the experience coming alive. Any hints and examples would be great!
July 5, 2025 at 2:45 PM
I am fascinated of structures, dynamics that form context and situations. Understanding them, identify dependencies. This is why I enjoy @johncutle.fish articles and essays. They shift the angle and do not forget the human in the center of it all.
July 1, 2025 at 6:17 AM
I am fascinated of structures, dynamics that form context and situations. Understanding them, identify dependencies. This is why I enjoy @johncutle.fish articles and essays. They shift the angle and do not forget the human in the center of it all.