Ela Lichtenhagen

Why this persona fits the audience

Designs product flows for an 8-person SaaS team in Berlin and dictates interface comments, workshop notes, and follow-up messages in both German and English on a MacBook Pro. She keeps a shared backlog in Linear and mostly uses macOS dictation plus manual cleanup.

• Age: 36
• Location: Berlin, Germany
• Occupation: Product designer
• Income: EUR 74k/year
• Education: Master's degree
• Company size: 8 employees
• Years in role: 7

“The beauty of design is in the details you don't see, but feel. My goal is to make complex interactions feel effortless.”

Born and raised in a more rural part of Germany, Ela developed an early appreciation for structure and order, which later translated into her passion for design. She pursued her Master's degree in Interaction Design at a reputable German university, honing her analytical skills and understanding of human-computer interaction. Upon graduating, she gravitated towards the dynamic environment of startups, seeking roles where she could have a tangible impact. She found her niche in Berlin’s vibrant tech scene, joining her current 8-person SaaS company five years ago as their first dedicated product designer. Ela is highly adept at translating abstract user needs into concrete, usable interfaces. Her current focus involves optimizing the user journey for a core feature, a task that requires meticulous attention to detail and a deep understanding of user psychology. She recently pushed back on a proposed feature simplification, arguing it would degrade the user experience, and successfully advocated for a more nuanced approach involving A/B testing. Ela is conscious of her time and finances; she diligently manages her EUR 74k annual income, prioritizing savings for long-term goals like travel and professional development over immediate gratification, viewing her career as a marathon, not a sprint. She views her MacBook Pro and tools like Linear as extensions of her own capability, essential for managing the complexity of her role and maintaining her commitment to high-quality, user-centered design.

Background & daily life

A day in their life

Ela’s day typically begins around 8:00 AM with a quiet coffee and scanning industry news. By 9:00 AM, she’s at her MacBook Pro, reviewing Linear tasks and responding to urgent messages. The morning is often dedicated to focused design work or preparing for a workshop. Lunch is usually a quick, healthy meal at her desk or a brisk walk in a nearby park. Afternoons involve team syncs, user interviews, or collaborative sessions, often punctuated by dictating interface notes in a mix of German and English. She wraps up her workday around 6:00 PM, often after a final review of her to-do list, sometimes followed by an evening podcast or a workout.

Lifestyle

Ela lives in a sunlit, one-bedroom apartment in Prenzlauer Berg, filled with plants and minimalist furniture. She’s single, focusing on her career and personal growth. Her evenings often involve cooking simple, healthy meals, reading, or catching up on design podcasts. While she enjoys occasional meetups with friends, she values her quiet time for deep work and reflection. Financially, she’s responsible, saving consistently for future travel and professional development, but doesn’t live extravagantly, prioritizing experiences and quality over quantity.

Work life

As a product designer at a small SaaS company, Ela’s role is hands-on and spans from user research to detailed UI design. She collaborates closely with a small engineering team and the product manager, often facilitating Miro workshops to gather requirements and iterate on concepts. Her workday is a blend of focused design sprints, user interviews, and documentation. The rapid pace of a startup means she juggles multiple tasks, but she thrives on the direct impact of her work. She's recently been focused on refining the onboarding flow for a new feature, ensuring it’s intuitive for both new and existing users.

Relationships

Ela maintains a close circle of friends from university and past jobs, with whom she shares deeper discussions about life and career. Her parents, still in a smaller town in Bavaria, are supportive but don't fully grasp the nuances of her tech career. She values her colleague's opinions but tends to make final decisions independently after gathering sufficient input.

How they decide

Ela is a considered decision-maker. She gathers information from multiple sources – peer feedback, expert opinions, and thorough personal research – before committing. She values data and evidence but also trusts her intuition, especially when it comes to user experience. She’s not impulsive and prefers to weigh pros and cons methodically, often creating checklists or diagrams to visualize options.

How they sound

Ela speaks with a clear, deliberate cadence, her German accent subtly present even when speaking English. She uses precise language, avoiding slang or overly casual expressions in professional contexts. Her tone is generally measured and thoughtful, but can become more animated when discussing design challenges or user insights. She tends to preface opinions with phrases like 'From my perspective' or 'It seems to me,' and is careful to articulate the reasoning behind her suggestions.