Hello, I'm Tilo.
Right now, I'm working at DeepL, a human language AI company. After a tech-wide layoff affecting 250 colleagues, I'm looking forward to what's next.
Design Lead · Design Systems at Enterprise Scale · Brand-to-Product · AI-Native Workflows
About
I’m a design leader with 18+ years building design systems where brand meets product. Eleven years as Design Director at MetaDesign, enterprise work for Alphabet, BMW, Siemens Healthineers, Audi, Volkswagen, most recently AI-native systems at DeepL. My through-line: systems that outlive the project. Hands-on by choice, Bauhaus-trained, currently exploring what AI does to the craft.
How I work
How I work: Everything I build is designed to outlive the project. These are the principles that make that possible.
Semantics
Every visual decision carries meaning, from typography to color. I design with the precision of language: nothing decorative, everything saying something.
People
Products only succeed when you understand users from the heart, not just from the data. Empathy is a research method.
Technology
Technology sets the pace. Each shift – from responsive to AI-native – changes what design can be, and I build with the current one, not the last one.
Brand
Brand is the why beneath every interface. It turns a collection of screens into something with purpose and character.
Experience
Rebuilding design-systems craft for the AI era
Creative direction at boutique scale — brand-driven systems and team enablement
Deliberate return to hands-on enterprise craft after a decade in leadership
Eleven years leading UX – growing designers, owning quality, building brand-driven systems
Cases
- Full case study: SaaS: Rethink design system with AI
- Full case study: Monitoring Solution for Automotive IT Landscape
- Full case study: ESG Report, Prepared to Create Impact
- Full case study: Create. Control. Collaborate. A New Digital Workplace
Monitoring Solution for Automotive IT Landscape
In a design sprint for an automotive client, we developed a monitoring solution that simplifies IT data through a tangible 3D map, split-screen views, and visual KPI summaries. A lightweight design system brought the concept to life and set the stage for future development.
Let‘s Connect
I’m always open to exciting design challenges, collaborations, or just a good conversation about UX, design systems or technology.