Lautsprecher Teufel

UX Hardware Engineer

UX Hardware Engineer
Lautsprecher Teufel GmbH,
Berlin, Germany

Duration
Dec 2020 - Oct 2023 · 2 yrs 11 mos

Publications
Red Dot Design Award

Products worked on
Cinebar 22, Effekt 2, MYND, Ultima 25A, Concept 8", Concept 12", Rockster Go

Keywords

Consumer electronics, Experience Prototyping, User Testing, Supplier management, Specification writing, Hardware Design system

Lautsprecher Teufel GmbH

I worked at Teufel Audio, a German consumer audio company, as UX Hardware Engineer. My role focused on overseeing product development, prototyping hardware interaction during pre-development, and initiating a structure and culture of user-testing with external users and internal customer service colleagues.

"His creative thinking and his extraordinary ability to familiarise himself quickly enabled him to always find optimal solutions, even for difficult problems. He always worked with a high level of initiative. We would like to specifically highlight his great commitment to prototyping and user research." - Nathalie Kruger (Team lead UX hardware)

PRODUCTS

Cinebar 22

With Cinebar 22 I was involved from the start, from early prototyping shape and interactions on a large laser-cut cardboard model to adjusting supplier firmware to test how far we could dim the display. I worked closely with international customer service teams to align and test display copy across 7 languages. This produced substantial changes for Cinebar 22 and informed updates on peripheral products such as Effekt 2.

Ultima 25A

I took over Ultima 25A from a colleague and collaborated with electrical engineers to prototype and test the top slider with users. The outcomes led to specification updates and added tactile feedback so it could be operated reliably in dark or above-head scenarios. In parallel, I aligned UX copy and flows across products and manuals to build a hardware UX design system that scaled from low-pixel displays to TV setup flows.

MYND speaker

At Teufel I joined the sustainability group, a team focused on making consumer electronics more sustainable. This led to the MYND speaker: an open source and repairable speaker made from post-consumer recycled plastic, awarded with Cradle to Cradle certification. I prototyped both functional and non-functional plastic and cardboard versions to test micro-interactions for buttons, sound, and light icons.

DIAGRAM

MY ROLE

Hardware user experience testing

I made user testing a core part of the development process, especially with older participants. Observing real setup behavior revealed where instructions, interface logic, or hardware assumptions broke down. We learned a lot about communication hierarchy, setup frustrations, and real-world edge cases. To share those insights, I built tools that captured product interactions so developers and management could directly see what users experienced.

Prototyping

I built prototypes so UX behavior could be tested and adjusted in minutes instead of days. One method connected remote IR signals to key presses in Figma, enabling fast iteration on full interaction flows while adapting wording and behavior live during user sessions.

Tools for prototyping before specification

I realized quickly that specifications rarely preserve the depth and quality of prototypes. To move from only defining toward actually designing behavior, I built tools for faster QA and for documenting the gap between designed and actual product behavior. Especially in overseas collaboration, video and working prototypes significantly improved communication of intended UX behavior.

MYND PROTOTYPING

Early Prototyping

In the predevelopment phase of the project, I prototyped different sizes to test portability and comfort as a portable speaker. This included handles, a carrying band, ergonomics, and floor grip.

Hardware Interaction Prototyping

Later in the project, I made a Bluetooth stack to test hardware interactions such as button press timing and Bluetooth connection and disconnection. This helped improve feedforward and the overall experience.

Final Product

During the process with the manufacturer, we had several back-and-forth discussions about materials. I left the company before the final product release.

Video by: Teufel
This project is published on GitHub