Operating model
Clarity that every team can act on
What an operating model is, what makes one work and in what order. Built at FTI Group for 11,000 employees and at Conrad across seven product teams.
I build the function that turns research & design into revenue.
Research built into every decision. Accountable today for the customer experience behind €400M GMV at Conrad Electronic, across seven product teams.
Based in Munich. German and Italian native, English business proficient.
The record, in five numbers.
4
Research and design teams built, at four companies
0 → 11
A new function at FTI Group, in two years
7
Product teams served at Conrad
400+
Customer interviews run since 2011
€30.3M
EU revenue impact at Conrad, first year
Where the work was done.
Retail, travel, insurance, HR tech, comparison and media, mostly mid-transformation.
Employers, 2006 to today
-
Conrad Electronic
German technology retailer serving businesses and consumers across Europe, from components and measurement equipment to factory automation. Trading since 1923.
conrad.de -
FTI Group
Europe's third largest tour operator, more than 11,000 employees across over 90 subsidiaries. Filed for insolvency in June 2024.
-
Smart InsurTech
Operates SMART INSUR, the platform connecting insurers, brokers and distributors in the German insurance market.
smartinsurtech.de -
Experteer
Munich career marketplace for senior and executive roles, connecting headhunters and recruiters with pre-selected candidates.
experteer.de -
CHECK24
Germany's largest comparison portal, covering insurance, energy, finance, telecoms and travel.
check24.de -
CHIP Digital
Consumer technology publisher and one of Germany's largest tech media brands, with 23 million monthly active users at the time.
chip.de
Consulting clients through N+
-
DevelopX
Start-up builder that helps companies build, transform and scale digital business models from idea to market rollout. Part of TruVenturo.
developx.com/de -
IMERO
Checks and translates food and cosmetics labels for global markets, pairing AI with expert validation of declaration compliance.
imero.io -
Ryd
Connected car service for paying at the fuel pump from a phone, available across Europe.
fleet.ryd.one/privatkunden -
VEOMO
Independent mobility consultancy that plans and runs mobility concepts for real estate, cities and companies.
veomo.com -
Rankscale
AI visibility platform. Monitors and improves how brands appear across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews.
rankscale.ai
What I build
Four parts that get the right things built, and keep them earning.
The same four in every company I have built in.
Operating model
How a company decides, and how it finds out. The change is agreed above the teams before anyone is asked to work differently, every role gets a scope and an accountability on paper, goals stay readable by the teams not in the room, and nothing enters a backlog without evidence. This is what turns the other three into how the company works.
Product discovery
Research is infrastructure before it is a headcount. A panel, a repository and a recruitment path go in first, so a study becomes a two-day question and the small questions get asked at all. Then the teams are taught to run their own, because a function smaller than the company it serves cannot work by taking requests.
Design system
A component layer is an organizational commitment before it is a technical one. The case comes first, in the currency the business already uses, and the system is funded as a product with a team, a backlog and a number it has to show. Who owns it and who may change it is written down before the first token.
Product design
Evidence is worth what it changes. Each initiative starts from a written problem and a hypothesis somebody can open, moves through prototypes built on the system, and ships behind a test, so what comes back is a number. The craft standard is set in critique, argued in front of the people who ship it.
What I led, and what it produced.
Product discovery
Discovery every team can run for itself
Research operations built three times. A panel from 200 people to more than 7,000 at Conrad, and at FTI Group the same infrastructure built from nothing.
Design system
A design system that pays for itself
Two systems, two organizations, both funded before a token was named. Make the case in the currency the business uses, fund it as a product, then pilot it.
Product design
From evidence to shipped revenue
Ten initiatives at Conrad carrying €30.3M of EU revenue impact in their first twelve months, nine A/B tested. Before that, two pages rebuilt at FTI Group.
References
What executives, peers and my teams say.
Quoted verbatim from my public LinkedIn profile, with each writer's title at the time of writing.
Nico was my first key hire when taking over as Chief Growth Officer at FTI Group where he proceeded to build out the entire UX and User Research function from scratch (up to becoming a strong 11 member team). […] In short, I can only recommend Nico as a core part to your Product and UX setup and would love to team up with him again.
Chris Nill Chief Growth Officer, FTI Group Nico knows how to successfully build, transform and develop user-centric product organizations. With his keen eye for the success factors of digital product development and his authentic and entrepreneurial leadership, he is a guarantee for sustainable, value-adding product development in the company. I look forward to the next opportunity to work with him.
Ole Breulmann Executive Board Member, Smart InsurTech AG I can highly recommend Nico! His creativity and wealth of ideas coupled with his very professional use of UX/UI tools and methods help take online products to a whole new level! In the time we worked together at CHECK24, I haven't seen anything remotely comparable.
Dr. Armin Hoell-Steier Chief Executive Officer, CHECK24