
In April 2019 Lisa joined our team as our first UX Researcher. With a strongly experimental mindset and deep knowledge in psychology and statistics, she helps us to better understand the end user’s pain points or to evaluate new concepts — always with the focus to create a product that has a real impact and value for the end user. After finishing her PhD in psychology, Lisa worked at a university, in data science and management consulting and most recently as a Senior UX Researcher at TestingTime, a company that recruits UX test users. She has been part of the NASA datanaut programme since fall 2017 and has founded her own company Hakuna maData, where she has proven her skills in growth hacking.
What was it about Starmind that made you join our team?
Starmind combines my two biggest passions, data science and psychology, in the most exciting and sophisticated way. Being strongly interested in artificial intelligence and knowledge technology, I’ve been thrilled about Starmind years before I joined the team. Starmind offers the perfect mix between a functioning product and an astounding future vision, which made the decision to join the team a very easy one. Introducing UX research to Starmind is a very meaningful and challenging endeavour that the whole team and I are determined to turn into a big success story.
What do you look forward to most about going to work every day?
I’m excited by the potential of Starmind to become one of the world’s most user-friendly and viral applications. I enjoy working with all these brilliant people with so many diverse and impressive backgrounds and I feel like at Starmind, I have the opportunity to learn from the very best in the field. Diving into data to fully understand pain points, build and test hypotheses and experiment on a daily base is not only my job, but also one of my biggest passions, which makes me feel very lucky.
What are your key learnings from the first weeks at Starmind?
In my first weeks, I had the pleasure to collaborate with various people from different teams, each of which gave me a whole new perspective on the future of AI. An open communication is the key to successful collaboration. I got to experience Starmind’s values, such as “contribute with love” and “trust in each other” first hand and I’m convinced that Starmind is the ideal place to grow, both personally and professionally, by stepping out of the comfort zone in a mutually trusting and highly supportive environment.
How did your previous positions at Hakuna maData and TestingTime prepare you for your role at Starmind?
Working in the fast moving environment of growing startups offers uncountable opportunities to provide value to a company. Hence, it offers the opportunity to have a visible and sustainable impact. Thanks to my previous experiences, I have come to appreciate the combination of vision (of the future journey) and optimisation (of the current product). Having the important aspects virality and growth always present in the back of my head helps me to focus on my work without losing track of the big picture. Without my previous experiences, I wouldn’t know how to keep both important aspects on top of mind at all times.
How do you spend your time outside of work?
Outside of my daily work at Starmind I love travelling, music, books, movies and working on different ideas. Various side projects have always been a big part of my life and I enjoy learning different things and getting to know new viewpoints. Luckily, I share all of my big passions with my boyfriend Dominic. Besides our adventures, I love visiting friends and family in my hometown Graz. I love game nights and get togethers of all kind and staying excited, curious and active is as important to me as relaxing in a spa or just on a weekend at home, while binge-watching all kinds of things ranging from Game of Thrones to Dr Phil. ;-)


