Thomas Sonsalla Email & Phone Number

Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands

Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands

San Francisco Bay Area

• I am responsible for the business verticals “app integrations” and “app marketplace”, web and in-product. I work closely with product managers and directors to craft the end-to-end experience from long-term, user research-informed vision to micro-interaction level, and build strategic partnerships with marketing, sales and product to successfully and continuously ship products.• I helped create a flexible, internal CMS as part of the app marketplace’s transformation from a static web page into a dynamic, editorial driven experience.• I worked with the user research team to create a “rapid research test kit” that empowers designers to conduct their own research by accelerating the planning, analysis and reporting of various studies.• Part of my time I dedicate to mentoring young design talents at the company, with a focus on improving their storytelling skills, eye for detail and self-worth as a designer.

• I volunteered my enthusiasm, UX skills and weekends to design the first version of the user experience and user interface for RespiraWorks' low cost ventilator systems. In my work I closely followed and designed against ISO norms and modern medical device systems guidelines to ensure that the product could be approved and put to use.

San Francisco Bay Area

• As initiator and lead of the West Coast Design Studio I provided guidance and support for sales, engineering and product teams at HERE California, and helped bring in large-scale customers such as Amazon or Facebook.• I successfully grew and managed a small team of UX designers and researchers in the US and India, and worked with them to craft a component-based, modular suite of 15+ internal and external map creation and machine learning tools that support the vision of automated driving experiences.• I was responsible for redesigning the in-car– and fleet management tools for the company’s global map data collection process. I collaborated with program managers and other stakeholders to introduce design thinking practices into an engineering-driven part of the organization.• I took initiative and created a set of guidelines to improve the company’s UI iconography, and used it to design 1000+ icons, which found their way into many products across the company’s portfolio.

San Francisco Bay Area

• I was the lead designer and responsible for the end-to-end user experience for "HERE Reality Lens" and "Reality Lens Capture Solutions", products using LiDAR technology let customers map and measure real-world captures. This product has been used by government agencies and private sectors for city planning such as the city of Paris, as well as internally for mapping purposes.

Berlin

• I conducted user research and lead the user experience design of one of the first turn-by-turn pedestrian navigation smartwatch app “HERE for Samsung Gear S”. I continued to provide guidance and support for subsequent releases.

Berlin

• I designed and shipped the navigation app “HERE Maps” for the Nokia Asha 501, an entry-level smartphone aimed at emerging markets. I worked closely with product owner and engineering to build and release this product within a 6-month time frame, and managed stakeholders from Nokia and HERE in an successful effort to align design principles and patterns.• I set up design patterns and guidelines for user conversion and first-time usage experiences, and guided design peers to adapt them in consumer products.

Berlin

• I designed the user experience from concept to specification level for the mobile HTML 5 version of the Nokia (later HERE) Maps app.• I conducted usability tests and other related user research to gain insights and help improve the product quality and user satisfaction, while working within limitations of a then new web design standard.

Berlin

• I designed a point-of-sale tablet experience that allowed sales prospects to customize their mobile plan, conducted user research and supported the development of multiple early stage prototypes.• Embedded in the innovation team, I worked on visualizing concepts using storytelling devices such as illustration, animation and video editing.