04/09/2025 updated

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Consultant for Product, Design Thinking, & CRO

Barcelona, Spain
Only remote
Ph.D. in Computer Science
Barcelona, Spain
Only remote
Ph.D. in Computer Science

Profile attachments

CV_Maximilian Speicher_March 2025_PM-DT-CRO_v2.pdf
Pitch Deck_Maximilian Speicher_March 2025_v1.pdf

InnovationA/B TestingUser Experience (UX)ResearchData AnalysisBusiness To BusinessBehavioural ScienceManagement and Business ConsultingCustomer ExperienceInformation Technology ConsultingConsultingConversion Rate OptimizationPersonalizationDesign ThinkingE-CommerceExperimentationGoogle AnalyticsLeadershipMachine LearningProduct ManagementQualitative ResearchUser-Centered DesignUser ResearchProduct StrategiesCoaching and MentoringTeam ManagementDigital Products
I help businesses create customer-centric digital products and achieve higher revenues, more growth & happier customers through a science-based, integrated approach:

① Deeply understanding customers.
② Solving the right problems.
③ Continuously iterating, measuring, & learning.

Research by McKinsey and others has shown this is directly connected to higher revenues & growth.

I’m a director & consultant with a unique background in product, design thinking, & conversion rate optimization (CRO). In 12+ years, I’ve gained extensive experience in developing strategies (on both a product & company level), implementing product & innovation frameworks, establishing measure & learn cultures, & leading teams. I’ve worked in both, industry & academia, from startups to large corporations.

I’ve published 40+ research papers on online experimentation, applied machine learning, behavioral science, UX design, and more, cited over 1800 times. My background in computer science culminated in a Ph.D. thesis on human-centered design.

→ Please get in touch for case studies.

Experience

Professional experience10+ years
Freelancer since2021

Languages

GermanNative speakerEnglishFluent

Project history

Strategy Advisor

neverdone.

Internet & IT

< 10 team member

Advising a Munich-based UX design startup on strategy topics, e.g., design system ROI.

Product Design Director

BESTSECRET Group

Goods & Retail

1000-5000 team member

Lessons Learned:
  1. How to build, coach, & grow a product design team & implement a continuous discovery framework together with product management.
  2. How to implement a set of design metrics & define a North Star KPI.
  3. How to extend design thinking capabilities beyond the e-commerce business unit through in-house coaching & consulting.
Key Results:
  1. “The best design team [they have] ever seen,” according to one C-Level Executive.
  2. +4 NPS & 20+ new brand partners through a B2B-focused rebranding & redesign of the entire online shop (web & app).
  3. Improved KPIs along the entire customer journey, e.g., a 3.2% increase in average order value through the design of a new shopping cart.

External Consultant

Tomorrow University of Applied Sciences

Other

10-50 team member

  • Development of a FIBAA-accredited curriculum for the Bachelor's program "Sustainable Design & Product Management"
  • Contributions to the definition of ToU's research profile

UX Manager – Functional Lead

C&A

Goods & Retail

>10.000 team member

Lessons Learned:
  1. How to build a UX practice and develop a strategy from scratch within the product management unit.
  2. How to create & manage an end-to-end CRO & innovation framework, from hypothesis generation to implementation.
  3. How to establish a measure & learn culture in the e-commerce department and beyond.
Key Results:
  1. Generated 300+ hypotheses that were tested in 100+ online experiments & 150+ user studies over the course of 3 years.
  2. An accumulated €10M+ increase in revenue p.a. through implementation of the successful hypotheses.
  3. Created C&A’s first e-commerce personas, with a representative sample of 1,123 (potential) customers participating in an online survey and moderated interviews.

Product Owner, Online Shops

C&A

Goods & Retail

>10.000 team member

Took over all PO responsibilities for the agile teams (frontend & backend) developing C&A’s 10 online shops. Oversaw the successful & disruption-free migration to IBM WebSphere Commerce v9.

Postdoctoral Researcher

University of Michigan

Other

5000-10.000 team member

Lessons Learned:
  1. How to manage & lead research projects at one of the world’s premier research universities.
  2. How to run design sprints to rapidly prototype & validate solutions.
  3. How to contribute to & shape the strategy of an academic research lab.
Key Results:
  1. 7 research papers at top-tier international conferences.
  2. 3 awards at top-tier international conferences.
  3. Co-invented a new prototyping method for designing AR/VR experiences, called 360theater.

VP of Data Analytics & CRO

bitstars

Internet & IT

10-50 team member

Lessons Learned:
  1. How to navigate a B2B tech startup during its early & growth stages.
  2. How to develop & implement an end-to-end data analytics & KPI pipeline.
  3. How to apply the Lean Startup method of experimenting & iterating quickly.
Key Results:
  1. Grew lead generation by 4400% through data analytics & online experimentation.
  2. Decreased customer acquisition cost by 80%, from $10 to $2.
  3. Significantly influenced the pivot to becoming a construction tech company, which led to the acquisition by FARO® Technologies for $34 million.

Certificates

Becoming an Agile Coach

LinkedIn

2024

MBA in a Box

Udemy

2022

Enterprise Design Thinking Practitioner

IBM

2019

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