Hi! I am Nicolai, a multi-disciplinary design researcher and strategy consultant specialized in bridging the gap between human experience and innovation.
I hold a MSc in Digital Design & Communication from the IT University of Copenhagen and a BA in Communication & Information Technology from the University of Copenhagen.
I'm trained in qualitative research, innovation, design ethnography and human-computer interaction.
Currently, I work as a qualitative researcher at Cognizant Ocean, a multidiciplinary team of researchers, strategists and tecehnologists focused on improving how we treat and think about the Ocean. We help leading companies to leverage AI and Systemic Thinking to boost sustainability, resiliency and profitability while addressing some of the Ocean’s most pressing challenges.
Throughout my career I have worked on innovation and design projects at public and private clients.
Working in the intersection between human experiences, innovation and design consulting I routinely apply my knowledge of qualitative research, human experience and critical thinking to solve clients' most urgent and important challenges.
Below are some of the projects I've worked on in the past.
Working on a project with a global biopharmaceutical company. Through more than 20 hours of ethnographic inquiry with PD patients and their caregivers I helped explore and analyze the experiences of PD patients, especially focusing on the intricate relationship between their experience of symptoms and the interaction with their neurologist.
Conducted qualitative research, including fieldwork, interviews, and facilitating workshops with diverse industry experts to explore how systemic design and cutting-edge technology could play a role in improving river health in the UK. In this process I helped co-author a successful bid, securing £5 million from the Ofwat Innovation Fund to continue the exploration of AI/ML in catchment management.
Research project for a large Norwegian financial service provider. Building on top of generative sessions with 47 participants we studied social aspects of how people reflect about their finances, especially in relation to security, freedom, family and sustainability.
We collected more than 8.000 comments from users, and studied how, and why, users react to proposed algorithmic personalization on social media. This allowed us to gain novel insight into the mental models of social media users. Read the peer-reviewed paper.
As research lead I guided the scoping, conduction and analysis of a B2B2C-oriented research project for a large Norwegian financial service provider. Through 22 qualitative interviews we studied various aspects of job satisfaction and employee retention in relation to financial benefits.
Collaborating closely with user researchers and management at a public sector client in the UK. I helped shape extensive research plans designed to make sure that the client would gain an in-depth and foundational understanding of the people who use their products and services.