LichtBlick SE is the largest independent green energy supplier in Germany, recognized for its commitment to sustainable practices. The company offers various digital touchpoints, including e-commerce websites, web customer portals, customer mobile apps, and applications for solar installers.

The journey
At LichtBlick, our journey began as the first internal design hires, a role I shared with Marian Breitmeyer (Product Designer). We quickly realized that LichtBlick required more than just two designers; the scope of work called for a dedicated design team. As a result, we transitioned into Design Manager roles while maintaining a hands-on approach to initiate projects and empower teams. Our responsibilities expanded from hands-on design to Design Operations, ultimately leading and scaling the digital design team. 

Outcome

• Throughout our journey at LichtBlick, we successfully established a culture of design excellence and cross-functional collaboration within the organization. By introducing regular rituals, team design meetings, and a community of practice for digital product design, we significantly enhanced our design capabilities and fostered a strong sense of teamwork.
• Despite the organization?s shift towards a more marketing-driven model, we remained resilient and adaptable. We successfully grew our team to 10 permanent designers, built a robust design system, and implemented processes that continue to thrive today. This adaptability reflects our commitment to design excellence and our ability to navigate changes effectively.
• The initiatives we introduced not only improved our design processes but also empowered team members to take ownership of their work, leading to increased innovation and creativity. Our collaborative approach has laid a solid foundation for ongoing success, ensuring that the design function continues to provide value and drive positive outcomes for LichtBlick's digital products. 

Migros, Switzerland's largest retailer and employer, launched the innovative "Support Your Sport" campaign, where customers could support an amateur sports club of their choice directly or through their purchases. Migros had six million CHF to spend on participating clubs, and the customers could redistribute this money to their favorite clubs by collecting ?vouchers? with every purchase and redeeming them to a club of their choice. The challenge was to build a platform for both the clubs and the customers and to maintain high engagement over several weeks and months. Every club should be able to benefit from the campaign. Therefore, we developed a multi-step campaign that first attracts and activates the clubs to register, and then engages the Migros customers in the next phase.

• Creating the overall concept for "Support Your Sport"
• Developing a strategic approach to drive engagement and participation
• Concepting the user interface and visual elements of the progressive web app
• Coordination with the technical service provider

Outcome

• In the end, the campaign had the strongest start and the most participants ever of any Migros campaign to date
• 33 million vouchers redeemed 
• 9 million visits to the homepage 
• 9,000 clubs participated
• 6 million CHF donated to clubs
• An additional 300,000 CHF in direct donations to clubs 
• Ø 30 code scans per user

Vodafone approached us to build a corporate app to educate and activate their employees to experience effective alternatives for a sustainable lifestyle. One of Vodafone's three strategic pillars aims to combat climate change. The goal of the Mission Green Initiative is to save 4,000,000 kg of CO2 annually in Germany alone. The question was how to engage a large number of people to join this quest. As most of us have surely experienced, knowing more information does not necessarily lead to significant behavior changes. For example, many continue smoking, even though they are aware of the health risks. To change behavior sustainably, one must experience alternatives. Trying new approaches often reveals that they can be easily integrated into daily life and may even be more beneficial. The most effective strategy to encourage persistence includes five elements: clear goals, self- awareness, enjoyment, competition, and rewards. That's why we built the Mission Green app.

• Developing a strategic approach to drive engagement and participation. 
• Creating the overall mechanics and concept for the app.
• Conceptualizing the user interface and visual elements of the progressive web app.

Outcome

• The 9-week-long campaign was seen as a great success and showed that even small changes can make a difference if adopted by enough people.
• 854,000 kg of CO2 saved
• 9% participation (twice as high as the average rate of participation for climate initiatives)
• 23,000 planted trees
• 36,000 accomplished missions
• Significant increase in sustainable leasing (e.g., fair phone and bike leasing)
• Long-lasting effect (+28% in visits after the end of the campaign)