Mission & Vision
yasashii llc supports clients...
- to systematically deliver digital solutions that are user-friendly and have a high customer acceptance
- to be successful with innovative business models at technological frontiers (e.g. robotics, IoT, Agentive Technology, narrow AI).
- to become more customer-centric and design-proficient
The best and most effective way to achieve great results and to transfer knowledge, skills and mindset is to closely work together. yasashii is therefore not just a service provider, but strives to act also as a catalyst. Sharing methods, tools & templates and working out loud, clients will become more design-proficient and successful in the mid- and long-run.
Check out yasashii's values & work principles.
yasashii derives its name from the Japanese language. It can be translated as:
- «easy to handle, easy to understand» (易しい)
- «friendly, elegant, thoughtful, having gentle manners» (優しい);
Any successful product, service or process needs to carry these yasashii characteristics.
Ownership
Expertise
- extensive hands-on work in all areas of the human-centred design process.
- 100+ projects
- 1000+ user sessions first hand (usability-testing, interviews, contextual inquiries...) and countless workshops, VoC- & customer (satisfaction) surveys
- countless prototypes and interaction design specifications
- exposure and experience in a broad variety of industries (pharma, finance, automotive, heavy industry, energy, healthcare, telco, social media etc.)
- from simple websites, mobile applications and e-commerce sites to complex devices and software in heavily regulated domains
- strong focus on b2b and enterprise systems (e.g. document management, project- and portfolio mgmt, HR, CRM, QMS, compliance managment, procurement)
- strong focus on innovation
- Seasoned UX trainer and coach: trained hundreds of professionals (various roles) around the globe on UX and CX tools and skills, most on CPUX-F level and beyond; coached and mentored countless Project Managers, Business Analysts, Business Solution Managers, Requirements Engineers, Solution Architects, as well as Managers on various levels (business and IT) on UX strategy and execution.
Professional Stations
Andreas Bleiker started his UX and CX career 20 years ago. He worked as a consultant, contractor, in R&D, and in a global UX strategist role in a large corporation.
Before founding yasashii llc, Andreas was holding a staff management position in F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.’s global Pharma Business IT organisation, in which he was accountable for the global UX and CX strategy, their institutionalization as well as governance, training and coaching of relevant processes and skills.
Before Roche, Andreas worked in R&D in the Siemens Innovation Lab, making sure that newly developed technologies are valuable for future customers and are easy to use.
Before Siemens, Andreas worked as a UX- and usability consultant for leading UX agencies and as a freelance contractor.
Check out Andreas Bleiker's public profiles on LinkedIn () and Xing ().
Partners, Affiliations & Commitments
Partnerships
yasashii focusses on CX, UX and usability expertise. Whenever complementing skills such as visual design, backend- or frontend programming are required, yasashii can rely on a global network of highly qualified contractors and trusted companies that share yasashii's values and quality standards.
Professional Affiliations
yasashii is represented in the following professional associations
- German UPA
- Global UXPA - global sustaining member
- Schweizerische Informatikgesellschaft, Fachgruppe Software-Ergonomics (UX Schweiz)
- Information Architecture Institute
- Project Management Institute (PMI), Global and Swiss Chapter
Pro Bono & Educational Commitments
yasashii cares for the quality and development in the UX industry, shares skills and gives back to the "community":
- guest lecturer (usability & media design) at the Cooperative State University Baden-Wuerttemberg (DHBW)
- occasional supervisor and evaluator of academic work and bachelor theses
- peer reviewer of UXPA International, IxDA, and Mensch und Computer conference
- global ISO-liaison to UXPA International for usability- and UX-related ISO-standards
- national expert for Switzerland in the International Usability and User Experience Qualification Board (UXQB, CPUX-certification program
- mentor and expert for the Startup Academy Basel
- national lead for the UX Schweiz mentoring program
- co-organizer of UX Schweiz events (world usability day, Basel meetups
- former member of Arbeitskreis Qualitätssicherung, German UPA (definition of professional profile for UX professionals)
Values & Work Principles
«The key to a good solution lies in the deep understanding of the problem.»
There are no good shortcuts to a sustainable, well-accepted solution. Neither gut feel nor hierarchy are good approaches to making design decisions. Qualitative and quantitative data is. A process that includes end users at various stages is.
«Always work within the context»
International standards (ISO, DIN, IEC etc.) and best practices in the industry are very important to keep high standards and to guide how yasashii works. Different organisational, technical and regulatory contexts require different approaches and UX strategies. Adopting methodology and process to the existing restrictions and capabilities is important to a viable solution.
Tasks such as user research, prototyping and design evaluations can be scaled and combined to fit to the possibilities and context of the individual client and project.
«A good customer experience is the result of a broad effort and roots in a mindset. No single employee can be accountable for it.»
The user interface is just one aspect of a digital product’s customer and user experience.
Many aspects throughout the customer lifecycle and journeys are covered by people and roles that traditionally are not considered “designers”.
Those people must be taken onboard. Only if they are included in the design discussions and decisions do we get a good UX and CX.
«Always care for relevant output.»
Always apply the right tools for the right purpose. Don't perform irrelevant activities just because they were once considered useful and bring money. Concretely:
- Never gather & stockpile data without clear research interest.
- Prototypes are always kept to the minimum level of fidelity required for their purpose.
- Evaluations focus on aspects where we have the biggest uncertainties and need input and answers.
Deliverables focus on clear, short messages.
Clients should not have to learn design jargon.
«Never fall in love with tools.»
Just because a technology is trendy or cool does not mean automatically that it is fulfilling a certain need better than existing solutions. Disruptive innovation often happens by a new combination of existing, more mature technologies or by bringing actually "working" technology to a new application area, to a new context.
When it comes to the technological tools of the UX trade, yasashii takes a lot of effort to be up to date with new developments. The questions is always: do they add value either to the UX professionals (e.g. by reducing workload, automating tasks, improving the workflow...) or to their clients (e.g. by increasing the quality and reliability of the output, or reducing overall effort and execution time).
yasashii does not advertise "fancy" technology just to impress clients with a veil of science. From first-hand experience, academia-grade eye-tracking, one-way mirror labs with a ton of cameras and other fancy lab equipment are often adding little value in the above sense. On the contrary, they tend to be rather resource-detracting, impractical and costly to apply. For the few cases where they actually add value, yasashii has formed strategic partnerships.
In all the other cases: keep it simple, lean and real.
«Sharing is how knowledge grows.»
Consultants shall actively share knowledge, skills and methods. This will enable clients to become more independent and proficient. And it helps the consultants to grow and work on even more challenging projects.
«Only work on relevant and interesting problems»
In its core, human-centred design aims at systematically making products and services better. People working in this field generate a lot of job satisfaction just by the fact that they discover ways to improve the design of a product. Frankly: not everything deserves to be improved.
One reason yasashii was founded is to be able to offer services exclusively to businesses and clients with which yasashii can identify.
Contact
This step is yours! What is your current challenge? Let's start a dialog on how yasashii can support you and your business.
+41 61 511 5260