12+ years building products.
Hello! 👋 I'm Ricardo Gerstl, a Senior UX Designer/Researcher based in Zurich.
I design for people whose livelihood runs through the product. Not delight for its own sake, but clarity in complex systems.
At 
, 
, and 
I led UX strategy across teams, owning both the research that points the way and the interaction detail that delivers it.
I’m comfortable in ambiguity, curious by nature, and grounded in research. I bring engineering in early, turn insights into clear design decisions, and make the case for design through business value and technical feasibility.
How do teams decide better?
One shared knowledge-base.
- 3 mo MVP launched
- 3× more data logged
- ≈100M$ yearly savings
Summary:
A centralized, A.I. powered Knowledge-base for AWS employeers. I led end-to-end designs and UX research, revamped the decision-making process within the organization, and lead the engineering & analyst consultants.
Role, skills & team
Role:
Senior UX Designer & Team Leader
Skills:
+ Product planning
+ Team management
+ UI Design
+ User testing/research
+ Design systems
+ Client management
+ Prototyping
Product Team:
+ Myself
+ Product Owner
+ Tech Lead
+ 1 Senior Product Designer
+ 7 Front/Backend Engineers
+ 3 Business/Data Analyst
Read full case study: Knowledge-base
Where does design live?
Where developers code.
- 4 knowledge sources
- 8 workflow stages
- Straight to code UX guidance
Summary:
Connected front-end development, component guidance, and ongoing UX research into one live workflow, so developers get product meaning and open questions while they build, not after the PR.
Role, skills & team
Role:
UX Engineer, Researcher & Tooling Architect
Skills:
+ AI agent design
+ Component contracts
+ UX research ops
+ Developer tooling
+ MCP / IDE workflows
+ Design systems
+ Live prototyping
Product Team:
+ Myself
+ Product Manager
+ Frontender
Read full case study: AI Native UX Workflow
Why rebuild every page?
Start editors from a template.
- 90→50 min to build a page
- 24+ page templates
- No blank canvas editor start state
Summary:
Hitachi Energy's global site had no structural consistency: editors began every page from a blank canvas, so layout took longer than content and readers had to re-learn each page. I analysed the existing pages, defined the templates and their mandatory versus optional areas, then ran the editor training and the page migration.
Role, skills & team
Role:
Global Comms UX Specialist
(Project Manager & UX Researcher)
Skills:
+ Content analysis
+ Information architecture
+ Template systems
+ Stakeholder prioritisation
+ Editor training
+ Migration planning
+ Release coordination
Product Team:
+ Myself
+ Content owners across
Business Units & Functions
+ Web editors
Read full case studies: Page Templates Interactive Elements Case Studies Revamp
About
Throughout the years I have grown on a personal and professional level. Interested in learning more about me?
About meWork
Solving complex digital problems gives me great satisfaction. Luckily, that's what I do for a living. Want to learn more about my work?
Case studiesMore
"All work and no play makes Ricardo a dull boy". Aside from my day-to-day job, I enjoy writing, coding, and doodling. Wanna' check it out?
Side projectsOrganizations
The following organizations have been a pleasure to work for over the past decade:
Recommendations
Here are a few examples from the 100+ recommendations I've received in LinkedIn, highlighting the strong relationships I've built with my colleagues over the years:
To read all 100+ recomendationsGo to LinkedIn
In the spirit of reconciliation, I, Ricardo Gerstl, acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. I pay my respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.
Thanks for the visit!
Reach out and let’s chat.