Hi, I'm Daniela
A versatile Designer with experience spanning UX UI, graphic, motion, 3D, marketing, and game design. I have a knack for connecting design with business goals (and limitations) and understanding what motivates people. My background in game UX and interaction design is my "secret weapon", because a great UX is the almost the ONLY thing that matters in games.
Journey to UX Design
I grew up in Germany, in a family of artists deeply connected to modernist traditions like Bauhaus and the Blue Rider movement. Art and design were a natural part of my life early on.
Reading a biography of Galileo Galilei as a child ignited my lifelong fascination with physics, astronomy, and the philosophy of science. I learned to blend art with analytical thinking, which led me to a career in design. To me, design exists at the intersection of science and art.
My career journey spans 3D design, game design, and now UX/UI design. As a 3D artist, I combined design, spatial thinking, storytelling, storyboarding, filmmaking, painting, modeling, animation, video editing, lighting, and more to create experiences in medical design, TV commercials, tech explainer videos and video games.
In 2011 I earned 6th place in the Israeli Game of the Year competition for a mobile game I had designed in my spare time, which led me to work in the game industry in Israel as game artist, interaction and UI designer.
Over the last three years, I have concentrated on UX/UI design, a field that brings together many of my interests skills.
In my most recent job as UX/UI Designer at 3DOptix, I contributed to a physics simulation platform, blending my 3D expertise and interest in science, while also applying the sharpened focus on user engagement, retention and flow that I had developed as a game designer. I love how my work in UX aligns with my top 10 unique talents, which according to the Clifton 34 strengths report are:
Mission
I aim to design innovative and impactful technology products that improve people's lives and make a meaningful difference in the world.
I like making complex systems easier for people to use.
Design Philosophy
I designed my portfolio homepage inspired by the art of Wassily Kandinsky, my favorite artist. I always loved his playful and powerful approach and that his paintings look and feel like games. To me design, just like games, is a mixture of strategy and improvising. Like him, I think that there is something mysterious about intuition and insight. And just as he believed that shapes and colors carry inherent meanings, I also always try to remember that every interface element should communicate, evoke emotion, and/or create meaningful connections.
Key principles:
Apply systematic Object-Oriented UX with the OOUX Orca framework
Leverage psychological engagement through Game Thinking and the Octalysis framework
Ask good questions and always keep learning
Test assumptions
Design with intuitive understanding and empathy for the user
Get feedback and advice
ORCA
Beyond Work
In my free time I enjoy designing stuff for fun, painting, reading, swimming, walking in nature, spending time with my daughter and parrots, playing chess, and baking artisan sourdough bread. My passions for travel, languages, and art continue to fuel my creative spirit.
What’s next
Currently I’m deepening my OOUX skills, working towards the OOUX Masterclass Certification, collaborating on a software project with friends, while also practicing my AI for UX and UX for AI skills.
Some of my most fulfilling work has been contributing to the cutting-edge tool 3DOptix. This has helped me define my ideal professional direction: to advance impactful technologies as a designer.
