Stefanus Sunarja
Berlin-based designer,
focusing on Design Operations
and User Experience
About Me
Hi, so nice of you to stop by!
People call me Stefan. Having made my way through industrial Birmingham, metropolitan Jakarta, and green Offenburg, I now find myself in vibrant Berlin—some 11,000 km away from Bandung, the ever-creative hub where I was born and raised.
I’m a creative operator with experience in both leadership and individual contributor roles—working in Operations Manager, Program Manager, and Chief of Staff capacities. A former Software Engineer and Product Designer, I’ve supported thousands of cross-functional partners and leaders across Product, Design, and Engineering organizations at scale.
Currently, I lead Design Operations at Wolt (DoorDash International). When I’m not obsessing over the design of everyday things, you’ll find me following German football, going for a run, or making music.
My Experience
October 2023 - present
Wolt (DoorDash International)
Berlin, Germany
Design Operations Lead
I serve Wolt's Design team of 60+ Product Designers, Design Researchers, Content Designers, and Motion Designers.
March 2020 - September 2023
N26
Berlin, Germany
Design Operations Lead
I served N26’s 50-people team of UXers (Product Design, User Research, UX Writing, Design System, and Design Operations) in building a bank the world loves to use through infrastructure management, process improvement, community engagement, and knowledge distribution.
October 2016 - February 2020
Market Logic Software
Berlin, Germany
Senior Designer
I supported 8 product teams through UX architecture and design operations, helping world’s biggest consumer brands run insights-driven business.
September 2015 - present
stefanus.sunarja.com
Berlin, Germany
Independent Designer
I work alongside business and organizations that are mainly based in Germany and Indonesia, helping them design and develop user-centered solutions that meet their goals.
March - December 2015
InMediasP
Berlin, Germany
UX Designer
I took on the role of UX designer in an agile team working on a number of projects, where I ensured user-centered approaches in agile environment by consistently conducting multiple UX methods and presenting their deliverables to fellow team members.
October - December 2014
Hochschule Offenburg
Offenburg, Germany
Media Lab Assistant
I assisted a team of web designers in relaunching the website of media lab at the university by planning, conducting, as well as analysing the results of a series of usability tests performed on the old version of the website.
September 2014
DB Schenker
Freiburg, Germany
Multi-Department Intern
I spent four weeks interning at one of Schenker's German branches (for multiple departments that included Ocean Freight, Exhibition/Special Transport, Air Freight, IT, Sales, and Warehousing/Logistics) to have a better insight into the everyday activities at a multinational corporation.
October 2013 - April 2016
Hochschule Offenburg
Offenburg, Germany
M.Sc. in Communication and Media Engineering
I came to further my understanding in the field of digital media by enrolling in the award-winning Communication and Media Engineering postgraduate program, where I graduated with Master of Science degree.
Januari - Juli 2013
DB Schenker
Jakarta, Indonesia
IT and Sales Planning Intern
I served as an intern for IT department (where I developed a web-based application to support Logistics department) and Sales Planning department (where I was responsible for a series of presales activities) at the Indonesian branch of one of the largest logistic companies in the world.
September 2011 - September 2012
Language Bank
London, UK
English/Indonesian Interpreter
I accompanied social workers on home assessments in various parts of the country to ensure smooth communication with clients by providing both parties with required support of English/Indonesian interpretation.
September 2009 - July 2012
The University of Birmingham
Birmingham, UK
B.Sc. in Computer Science
I had my first encounter with the field of Human Computer Interaction, which sparked my interest in user-centered design, while studying Computer Science at one of the best universities in the UK, earning Bachelor of Science with Honours degree in the process.
Design Principles
I believe excellent process design plays a big role in shaping an excellent product design.
Designing Process
Through Design Operations, I look for ways to enable teams to maximize outcome within respectful working environment. The design process that I champion has the following attributes:
Iterative
Iterative approaches take failure and mistakes into regard when moving forward, as they allow for continuous learning. It is also imperative to maintain consistent and holistic design as we go from one sprint to another.
Incremental
By doing things incrementally, we add continuous improvement to the process. From Minimum Viable Product to Minimum Loveable Product, we aim to deliver more value and delight progressively as we learn.
Inclusive
Empathy extends to people that we work with, as it does to users. We include them in the process; we listen to them and strive to make things easy and delightful for them. Cross-functional collaboration is key.
Designing Product
Through UX Design, I look for ways to build products that offer positive and lasting user experience. In my definition, a product with premium UX has the following attributes:
Valuable
Product with premium UX offers added value. Through continuous user and market research, I help product teams determine what to learn and build next.
Usable
Product with premium UX is easy to learn and use. Through continuous testing, I help product teams ensure understandable information architecture and interaction.
Delightful
Product with premium UX triggers delight. Through continuous cross-functional collaboration, I help product teams build a holistically pleasant experience.
Work Samples
My full portfolio: link [pdf]
(password-protected; please get in touch to get access)
✍️ Writing
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Design Days 2024: Magic through Delight | July 2024 [article]
My story about organizing annual offsite for Wolt's Design team.
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[Featured] How N26 makes banking more approachable with Figma | March 2023 [article]
Customer story; a collaboration with N26 and Figma.
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Defining and Doing DesignOps at N26 | January 2021 [article]
My reflection on lessons and observations after 9 months of defining and doing Design Operations at N26.
🎤 Talk
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Getting and Keeping your UX Team Engaged | July 2023 [slides]
Presented at DesignOps Assembly (Berlin, Germany); a story about how I foster engagement through culture-building.
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Building a Support System that Helps and Delivers | September 2021 [slides]
Presented at Service Design Days 2021 (Barcelona, Spain); a story about how I built a support system at work.
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Designing Operations through Growth | February 2020 [slides]
Presented at UX Crunch (Berlin, Germany); a story about how I supported a design organization at a growth-stage company.
💬 Panel Discussion
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DesignOps: Unnecessary Function or Fundamental to Success? | May 2022 [details]
Part of Figma’s “Inside the Minds of Design Leaders” series; a discussion on challenges and future of Design Operations (ft. panelist from HelloFresh).
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Lean Agile Remastered | March 2021 [details]
Part of Luxembourg House of Financial Technology’s “The 360° of Product Design”; a discussion on the role of design thinking, lean movement, and agile software development in modern product development (ft. panelists from Agile Partner and IDEO).
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UX Hiring: The Design Challenge | February 2021 [video - in Indonesian]
Part of UX Luky’s webinar series; a discussion on the value of design challenge in the UX hiring process (ft. panelists from FlixBus, Gojek, Google, and Valtech).