Hi, I’m Rahel Flechtner. I’m a designer and researcher working at the intersection of the digital and physical worlds. My work focuses on new concepts of human-machine collaboration, on co-creating assistive technologies and on designing and prototyping multisensory interactions and interfaces.

I am currently a visiting professor for Creative AI at the HfG Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany. At the AI+Design Lab, we explore the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on human-computer interaction and design, and how AI technology can be integrated into design education to prepare future designers for the new challenges they will face.

Technological advances are constantly redefining how we interact with machines. Especially with the current developments in AI, I am deeply invested in actively shaping our relationship with technical systems in order to create a desirable future with technology. Another key aspect of my work is user research and co-creation, working closely with potential users and stakeholders to create products and experiences that truly meet their needs. Prototyping is also a significant part of my process. I work hands-on with quick and dirty prototypes, rapid prototyping methods or physical computing to bring ideas to life—turning abstract concepts into tangible experiences that can be tested and refined.

Professional Experience

2022 Oct – today Visiting Professor for Creative AI at the University of Applied Sciences in Schwäbisch Gmünd and part of the AI+Design Lab and the BMBF-funded project ‘KITeGG’ (gestaltung.ai).
2020 May – 2022 Dec Research associate at the „Interaction Design Lab“ at Potsdam University of Applied Sciences.
2019 Jul – 2022 Jul Researcher at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) in Berlin.
2019 Oct – 2021 Dec Lecturer in Physical Computing at the HTW Berlin University of Applied Sciences.
2019 Mar – 2019 Nov Research associate at the „Design Research Lab“ at the Berlin University of the Arts
2018 Apr – today Freelance Designer
2015 Nov – 2018 Mar Research associate (stud.) at the „Design Research Lab“ at the Berlin University of the Arts
2015 Feb – 2015 Jun User Experience Designer at Phoenix Design in Stuttgart.
2014 Oct – 2015 Jan Working student User Experience Design at Phoenix Design in Stuttgart
2014 Apr – 2014 Aug Internship Interaction Design at the “Telekom Innovation Laboratories” in Berlin, department “User Driven Innovation”.
2013 Sep – 2014 Feb Internship User Experience Design at Phoenix Design in Stuttgart.
2012 Oct – 2012 Dec Tutor at the University of Applied Sciences Magdeburg-Stendal in the field of SKO calculations (soft-kill option).

Education

2015 Oct – 2018 Mar Master’s degree in Interface Design at the Potsdam University of Applied Sciences
2013 Jan – 2013 Jun Study abroad at the Universidad Europea de Madrid, Spain
2010 Oct – 2015 Jan Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design at the Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences

Talks and Workshops

2024 „Making (Non-)Sense—A Playful and Explorative Approach to Teaching AI Intuition for the Design of Sensor-Based Interactions“: Paper presentation at the EduCHI Annual Symposium on HCI Education 2024, online
2024 „Das AI+Design Lab an der HfG Schwäbisch Gmünd – Ein Lehr-Lern-Labor für integrierte KI-Gestaltungslehre“: Presentation at the networking event “KI in der Hochschullehre” of the Ministry of Research, Science and the Arts Baden-Württemberg in Stuttgart
2023 „AI is not a Wildcard: Challenges for Integrating AI into the Design Curriculum“: Paper presentation at the EduCHI Annual Symposium on HCI Education 2023 in Hamburg
2023 „Pathways for integrating AI education in the design curriculum“: Talk at the Interaction Design Education Summit (IxDA EduSummit) in Zürich
2023 UX chat on the topic of ‚Artificial Intelligence‘ at German UPA – UX Chat, online
2022 „Breaking the pattern – KI als Werkzeug im Kontext des Technologiedesigns“: Talk at the CORRELATIONS – FORUM FOR AI IN ART & DESIGN in Offenbach
2022 „Nachhaltige Innovation Gestalten — Diskussionsrunde 3: KI, der große Beschleuniger?“ Input presentation for a discussion series, organized by Iconstorm and the German Werkbund Hessen, sponsored by the State of Hessen
2022 Participation in a podcast on the topic of ‚How does AI communicate? A brief insight into artificial intelligence‘ at the Folkwang University of the Arts
2022 “Imagining the Future of AI-Human Interaction”. Panel discussion with Florian Dohmann and Prof. Dr. Med. Surjo Soekadar at the ‘AI Monday’ event in Berlin
2022 Workshop on “Embedded Machine Learning” at VDI/VDE Innovation + Technik GmbH. With Aeneas Stankowski.
2021 „KI und Design: Design als Treiber nutzerzentrierter Innovation“, Interview with Andreas Schepers and Aeneas Stankowski, DFKI Livestream at the Hannovermesse 2021 Digital Edition
2021 Make Your School‘ – „Hackdays“ at schools in Berlin and Dresden, digital format.
2020 „Designing a Wearable Soft Robotic Orthosis“: Paper presentation at the Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction (TEI) in Sydney, Australia
2019 Workshop on‘ Smart Textiles and Wearables‘ at the TINCON Conference in Hamburg. With Esther Zahn.
2018 „Erfahrungen und Herausforderungen im Umgang mit ethischen Fragestellungen im Gestaltungs- und Entwicklungsprozess“: Presentation at the ‘Ethics in HCI’ workshop, Mensch und Computer
2016 – 2021 Various workshops with “Junge Tüftler” in the field of digital education for children and teens, as well as teacher trainings
2016 „Zwischen Automation und Interaktion. Was wird aus unserem Verhältnis zur Maschine?“ Talk at aed DesignersPunch, Stuttgart

Publications

2024 Jordi Tost, Rahel Flechtner, Rahel Maué, and Frank Heidmann. 2024. Caring for a companion as a form of self-care. Exploring the design space for irritating companion technologies for mental health. In Proceedings of the 13th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (NordiCHI ‚24). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 10, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1145/3679318.3685343
2024 Felix Sewing and Rahel Flechtner. 2024. Demonstrating SandwichNet—A Playful Tool for Teaching the Basics of Neural Networks. In Mensch und Computer 2024 – Workshopband, Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V., 01.-04. September 2024, Karlsruhe, Germany. https://doi.org/10.18420/muc2024-mci-demo-322
2024 Rahel Flechtner and Jakob Kilian. 2024. Making (Non-)Sense—A Playful and Explorative Approach to Teaching AI Intuition for the Design of Sensor-Based Interactions. In EduCHI 2024: 6th Annual Symposium on HCI Education (EduCHI ’24), June 05–07, 2024, New York, NY, USA. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 9 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3658619.3658643
2023 Rahel Flechtner, Leyla Dewitz, Rahel Maué, Jordi Tost, Paula Schuster, Frank Heidmann, and Judith Ackermann. 2023. Facing fears, facing opportunities: Lessons learned from a participatory design format with people affected by social anxiety. Potsdam, Germany: University of Applied Sciences Potsdam. https://doi.org/10.34678/opus4-3116
2023 Rahel Flechtner and Aeneas Stankowski. 2023. AI Is Not a Wildcard: Challenges for Integrating AI into the Design Curriculum. In Proceedings of the 5th Annual Symposium on HCI Education (EduCHI ‚23). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 72–77. https://doi.org/10.1145/3587399.3587410
2022 Rahel Maué and Rahel Flechtner. 2022. “Hopohopo”: A Virtual Reality Awareness Application about Social Anxiety Disorder. In Mensch und Computer 2022 (MuC ‚22), September 04-07, 2022, Darmstadt, Germany. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 7 Pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3543758.3547550
2020 Rahel Flechtner, Katharina Lorenz, and Gesche Joost. 2020. Designing a Wearable Soft-Robotic Orthosis: A Body-Centered Approach. In Proceedings of the Fourteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction (TEI ’20). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 863–875. https://doi.org/10.1145/3374920.3375012
2020 Emil Woop, Esther Friederike Zahn, Rahel Flechtner, and Gesche Joost. 2020. Demonstrating a Modular Construction Toolkit for Interactive Textile Applications. In Proceedings of the 11th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction: Shaping Experiences, Shaping Society (NordiCHI ’20). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 115, 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1145/3419249.3420075
2018 Katharina Lorenz, Rahel Flechtner, and Gesche Joost. 2018. Partizipative Methoden als Werkzeug zur Diskussion moralischer Aspekte im Designprozess. Mensch und Computer 2018 – Workshopband. DOI: 10.18420/muc2018-ws06-0522. Bonn: Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V.. MCI-WS06: Darf’s ein bisschen mehr sein? Zum Umgang mit ethischer Verantwortung in der Mensch-Technik-Interaktion. Dresden. 2.-5. September 2018
2017 Alexander Müller-Rakow, and Rahel Flechtner. 2017. Designing Interactive Music Systems with and for People with Dementia. The Design Journal, 20(sup1), S2207-S2214.
2016 Alexander Müller-Rakow, and Rahel Flechtner. 2016. Partizipative Gestaltung eines Musiksystems mit und für Menschen mit Demenz. Mensch und Computer 2016 – Workshopband. DOI: 10.18420/muc2016-ws02-0008. Aachen: Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V.. Motivatonale Aspekte im Health Design. Aachen. 4.-7. September 2016
2015 Rahel Flechtner, Johannes Schäfer, and Bernhard Schmid-Wohlleber. 2015. Be my Mate!—Eine Vision für das Schulbuch der Zukunft. In Mensch und Computer 2015–Usability Professionals: Workshop (p. 346). Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG.

Teaching

2024 “Shaping Human-AI Relationships – Exploring the Design Space through Performative Methods” – workshop at HfG Schwäbisch Gmünd that used experimental and performative techniques such as role-playing to explore the potentials and challenges in designing human-AI relationships.
2023 “Controller” – workshop at the HfG Schwäbisch Gmünd with the aim of exploring exciting or unusual forms of AI-based interaction with simple games or systems and implementing them in functional prototypes.
2023 “Making (Non)Sense” – workshop at the Köln International School of Design (KISD). With Jakob Kilian.
2023 “Making (Non)Sense” – workshop at the HfG Schwäbisch Gmünd, in which we explored the potential of sensor data for the development of interactive AI-based systems through role-playing and prototyping with microcontrollers. The result was an AI-based ‘Rube Goldberg machine’. With Jakob Kilian.
2023 – 2025 Foundations of AI + Design – Insight into the most important machine learning technologies and their applications in design, with a focus on the design, usability, and potential societal impact of AI implementation. With Aeneas Stankowski and Felix Sewing (among others)
2022 “Contextual Interactions” —workshop at the HfG Schwäbisch Gmünd. With Aeneas Stankowski.
2021 “Hard Reset – Prototyping with Machine Learning” – workshop at the University of Applied Sciences in Potsdam experimenting with individually trainable, unusual forms of interaction and body gestures that can be interpreted using machine learning. With Aeneas Stankowski.
2021 “Rethinking Tech Resources for Mental Health” – semester project at the Potsdam University of Applied Sciences that examined new approaches to using technical resources to promote mental health. With Sebastian Wloch, hybrid format.
2021 „Rethinking Education and Knowledge Transfer“ – Short-term project at the HTW Berlin dedicated to the question of how educators can be supported with digital tools in their daily work in daycare centers. With Antonia Schäfer
2020 “Zusammen Allein” – a course in physical computing at HTW Berlin with the aim of creating artifacts that bring us together in times of social distancing. With Alexander Müller-Rakow, digital format.
2020 “Designing Gameful Interaction” – Short-term project at HTW Berlin with the aim of transforming unpleasant (everyday) activities into gameful and hedonistic experiences with the help of gameful design approaches. With Alexander Müller-Rakow, digital format.
2020 “Unwohl” – workshop at the FH Potsdam that explored the feeling of unease. The resulting artifacts range from critical to solution-oriented approaches.
2019 ‘Critical Machines’ – a technology course that explores physical computing as a medium for promoting critical engagement with a specific topic. With Alexander Müller-Rakow.
2019 ‘Poetic Interfaces’ – a short-term project at HTW Berlin focusing on the design of interactions that aim for a certain quality of interaction rather than a specific function. With Alexander Müller-Rakow.
2019 – 2021 Fundamentals of Physical Computing – Semester course at HTW Berlin that introduces the fundamentals of electronics and programming with Arduino and Co. The module had to be converted to an online-only format in 2020 and was further developed in 2021 as a hybrid format.

Other

2025 Jury member for the ‘aed neuland’ 2025 competition for young designers
2015 Winner of the ‘aed neuland’ young talent competition 2015 in the category ‘Interaction Design’ with the bachelor thesis ‘Mate’ – A vision for the schoolbook of the future.