About me

LinkedIn
Resume

Hello! I'm Rolf, a dynamic Senior Product and UX Designer, currently enriching user experiences as the Director of User Experience at LingQ, a leading language learning app based in Vancouver. With a career spanning over two decades, I've honed my expertise in crafting intuitive, user-focused designs and managing comprehensive design systems.

What Drives Me

My passion lies in transforming user interfaces into seamless, engaging experiences. At the core, I believe design is about creating spaces where ideas thrive and evolve through active collaboration. This approach has fueled my success across various industries, from music streaming to online education.

Professional Highlights


Versatile Expertise

From mobile apps to comprehensive brand strategies, I've led design initiatives that resonate with users and align with business goals.


Data-Driven Creativity

My designs are informed by thorough research and data, ensuring they meet real user needs and preferences.


Leadership and Collaboration

Whether leading a team or working autonomously, I emphasize cooperative efforts and stakeholder engagement to drive design excellence.
Educational Foundation

Looking Forward

I'm a digital nomad, with roots in San Francisco, Vancouver, and Turkey, always on the lookout for new challenges and collaborations that promote mutual growth. My toolkit includes expertise in UX Design, User Research, Prototyping, and Brand Strategy, ready to be deployed for your next innovative project.

Let's Connect

I am always interested in learning about anything interesting in my field. Feel free to reach out

Accolades

LinkedIn

Similar to the talented engineers and product designers at Apple with a strong culture of offering best products to users, Rolf shared the same traits. When he worked on a project, he would surprise you with a perfect final outcome. In his works, he was very creative and innovative. He cared about product details and user experiences deeply. …

Liang Gong
Hamsa Co-founder & APAC CEO, Apple, Amex & Visa

Rolf is the best designer I’ve worked with and I've worked with many. Having formerly run Gracenote, led executive positions at MTV overseeing marketing for online, and at SonicNet, the web's premiere music destination, i can tell you that Rolf was at the top. Easy to work with, creative, great listener, flexible, and ultimately delivers the goods. Not sure what else to say aside from the fact that i'd hire him back if i could.

David Hyman
Unagi CEO, Beats Music CEO

Rolf is a phenomenal designer. Highly collaborative, he’s extremely easy to work with, but he also has bags of experience so he carefully guides you to the right end result. He’s extremely good at ensuring you always see the experience you are designing for through the eyes of the user, which is easier said than done. Also just a wonderful human being

Paul Birks-Hay
Hamsa Chief Marketing Officer, Venables Bell and Partners President

Rolf quickly brought leadership and direction to design throughout everything Sun Basket; the entire User Experience, Packaging, Marketing, the Recipe Books… He seeks truth and does not let any ego stand in the way from doing a job well. I learned a tremendous amount about design and thoughtfulness from Rolf. I feel so lucky to have worked with him for three years and cannot recommend him strongly enough!

Tyler MacNiven
SunBasket Co-founder, CEO Pizzeria Deluna

Rolf came into Blippar on contract and helped us flesh out our visual design strategy and create consistency across the breadth of our product offerings. From his first day to the last hour of his last day, he did an exceptional job of creating a structured approach to identify immediate and strategic design opportunities. His ability to think strategically was matched by his ability to execute…

Ryan Schmaltz
Founding Director, Media & Emerging Technology Lab - University of North Carolina School of the Arts

Rolf is an extraordinary designer and business partner. In over 25 years of working with designers, I would say he is the best I've worked with. Not only is he extremely talented in his craft, but he understands how to achieve effective business results through the use of them. He is a blast to work with, and became a critical member of the team while we sorted through strategy, not just when we got to the design phase.

Andrea Abegglen
VP Marketing - GigaOM

Rolf is an amazing UX/UI designer...he single-handedly managed three major online properties for Gigaom (news, events and research) as well as managing the creation of graphics for all the events' onsite branding and printed promotional material. Full of ideas, listens to feedback and so incredibly easy-going...amazing musician to boot...

Raza Zaidi
VP of Product & Technology GigaOM, TuneUp Media Founder

Rolf can wear more than one hat, which is super valuable in a start up company. He is able to take a brief conversation, create comps, partner with the client and iterate on the design until they are satisfied and ready to move forward. He manages difficult clients very well and gets them to a place where they get their needs met. He also partners well with the tech side of the stack… I loved working with Rolf!

Matthew O’Meara
Head of Product, SunBasket. Founder, VP 2Cents,

Rolf contributed significantly to the rebranding of DeliRadio to MAGNIFI and was instrumental in helping translate the product vision into an easy to use intuitive experience. He worked hard to help reach aggressive deadlines and maneuvered gracefully though fast paced direction shifts and revisions that led to better product outcomes…

Mark Koerner
VP of Product Dictionary.com, VP Jambb, Head of Product Magnifi

Rolf is a dream designer. He is not only a creative and skilled practitioner but is also a thoughtful and business minded designer. He is interested in understanding the consumer and works to find the most effective design to accomplish objectives. I highly recommend him and many times wished I could clone him.

Deanna Dawson
Director of Social Media & Influencer Marketing, Zenni Optical, Director, SnapFish HP

Drop me a line

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