Aviation expert Christian Korff joins UX&I in Hamburg as a senior UX consultant

Engineering, psychology, aviation, and a dash of olive oil: Your career has some fascinating facets. How do all these elements come together in UX consulting?

I’ve always been interested in psychology, as well as technology. 

I first earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering. The psychological and UX components came into play during my master’s program in Human Factors. I delved deeply into human-machine interactions, particularly in the field of aviation. After graduation, I moved to Italy, where, among other things, I built an e-commerce business for olive oil and worked as a project manager and UX designer at an engineering firm. After that, I moved to Hamburg to work as a human factors consultant for the aviation industry. Here, UX was primarily about safety. For example, I conducted usability tests in a flight simulator as part of system certifications. Then the pandemic brought the aviation industry to a standstill. I reoriented my career somewhat and started as a UX manager at an e-commerce software company. The agile product development there impressed me with its speed and the greater scope for influence. But I also realized that in-house UX wasn’t the right fit for me in the long run. I wanted more variety and to work among a community of UX experts.

Why are you a good fit for UX&I, and vice versa? 

What immediately appealed to me: UX&I isn’t just an agency; the team truly lives and breathes UX. The project portfolio was also a key factor for me: many B2B clients and complex products. I love diving deep into technical systems and exploring new worlds. In my free time, I’ll sometimes stand by the elevator and wonder: How does this thing work? Why does it work? I want to understand how things fit together. At the same time, I can fully endorse UX&I’s purpose: “We empower people to shape technology for the benefit of humans.” UX must not only be applied effectively but also fostered as a mindset. I want to empower the entire team to apply UX principles independently. Workshops are a major part of this and also one of the areas where I’d like to continue developing my skills at UX&I. And “for the benefit of humans” is very important to me. It frustrates me when the business aspect is clearly the main focus, and in the worst cases, when dark patterns emerge. Digital products and tools should make people happy and help them get their work done.

What do you think makes a good UX consultant? 

You have to be able to put yourself in other people’s shoes and understand what’s happening here and why it’s actually happening. You have to be able to put your finger on the problem. Question the status quo. Communicate and mediate between stakeholders, get everyone on board, including the developers. I want to spread inspiration for UX and motivate others. The best way to do that is not by telling, but by showing. That means occasionally bringing project participants along to a user test so they can experience the added value of UX firsthand. 

What technology are you finding exciting right now?

In general, I’m interested in how psychological principles can be applied to artificial intelligence. And I wonder how we can overcome the “uncanny valley” with artificial entities like robots, for example, how chatbots can feel more natural and less weird. There’s still a lot of work to be done when it comes to creating a good user experience.