Manual of Me

The basics you should know about me are ...

I am Marc, and my pronouns are he/him. I am originally from Germany, but try to reduce the noticeability of my accent. I am fluent in German, English, and Spanish and have lived in 4 different countries. I have been working in design for 10+ years and have been mentoring or tutoring in some capacity for 20+ years. I mostly work as a UX designer and researcher.

I add value to teams by …

I can draw from a variety of methods and experiences to advance projects. Having spent time living in 4 different countries and cultures, I try to highlight the diverse perspectives that may relate to a project. I am also naturally very curious and greatly enjoy immersing myself into all sorts of topics, trying to find the nuggets that can have an impact on our work.

What motivates me to come into work each day is …

Knowing I can make an impact with my work, whether just for my project team, our clients, or end customers. It’s also always important for me to see opportunities to learn something new.

The sort of projects which really excite me have …

I love opportunities to talk to people in the field. I appreciate opportunities to conduct research, interviewing people or observing them perform tasks or navigate the environment. I also enjoy using my design skills to facilitate conversations, visualizing various viewpoints, synthesizing data collaboratively, or producing artifacts to align various involved parties.

The best way to give me feedback is …

“Clarity is kindness.” I appreciate clear feedback. It is important to me to not have feedback feel like a closed door, but instead indicates ways to move forward. That can mean constructive criticism with suggestions or recommendations for things to revisit or try, but can also just mean words of encouragement. I generally prefer feedback in private forums over public settings, whether it is recognition or criticism.I find it easier to dive deeper into feedback that way, and it is always important to me to have the opportunity to do so — ask clarifying questions and understand the why behind things.

I’ve discovered that I best like working in the following ways …

I appreciate working on teams where we have a great sense of alignment and ownership. I find it important to know who is primarily responsible for what so that we can work autonomously and collaboratively whenever necessary. I also know that it can make a tremendous impact on my work to receive feedback on work in progress and acknowledgement for work that is completed.

The things which prevent me from doing my best are …

Micromanagement and being overly prescriptive. I appreciate a sense of autonomy and recognition of my own skills and perspectives. Passive aggressive behavior and ego-driven communication are big red flags for me and will likely cause me to withdraw.

Beyond work, I’m really passionate about ...

I am passionate about health and fitness and try to apply my learnings to my own lifestyle, staying active and eating reasonably healthy. I love languages and different cultures and like opportunities to learn about them. And I feel a strong pull towards philosophy and ethics and invest time to understand them better.

When I'm dealing with stress, I ...

I can easily get anxious. It affects my patience and I quickly get impatient and ready to move forward. I may also get frustrated and need space to withdraw to process things. I am working on communicating these situations better and to not come across as aggressive or cynical when frustrated or impatient.

My absolute requirements to do great work are ...

I always need access to some form of visualization tools, which can be a whiteboard - physical or digital -, pen and paper, or the notorious sticky notes. I often need to go in and out of different modes, so while it is helpful to have space to collaborate, I also need time and space to withdraw and work on my own to sort through my thoughts and process all the input. Quiet time therefore is a must have.