Allow me to introduce myself.
My name is Sarah Hägele and I am a Hobbyist Photographer, former Full-Stack Software Developer, and UX Designer.
I coded this website from scratch with the goal to give you a glimpse into who I am as a person and what I stand for and do as a designer.
Major Project - Part 1 (2025)
Sector: Adult Social Care
User Research
Sensemaking
Major Project - Part 2 (2025)
Sector: Adult Social Care
Ideation
Wireframing
Prototyping
Visual Design
Agile Design
Mobile App
Group Client Project (2025)
Sector: Expense Management
Ideation
UX Leadership
Agile Design
Mobile App
Solo Project (2024)
Sector: Home Energy Usage
Visual Design
Wireframing
Mobile App
Solo Project (2024)
Sector: Sustainability
User Research
Prototyping
Mobile App
I'm a UX and Product Designer with a background in Computer Science and a passion for creating meaningful, human-centred digital experiences. My journey into UX began with a lifelong interest in digital design - from fiddling with HTML and Photoshop as a teenager to noticing every beautifully crafted (or frustratingly bad) interface I came across.
My computer-affinity initially lead me to complete a three-year-long Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and work as a software developer at FNT Software for an additional year, which gave me a deep understanding and appreciation of software and how it is created from a technical point of view.
I worked on a wide array of projects at all levels of the tech-stack, including database interactions with SQL, backend- and API- development (see here for the outcome of one such project) with Java or Python, and even some frontend-dabbling with TypeScript.
Throughout these four years, I came to realise that I was missing something fundamental, which wasn't logic or structure - it was people. I found this missing piece within UX Design. After successfully applying for a scholarship for a Master's degree in UX and Service Design at Loughborogh University, I left my home country of Germany to live and study in the UK for a year.
This year taught me an incredible amount - about UX and about myself. Now, I bring together technical understanding, design thinking, and a strong sense of ownership to shape products that genuinely make a difference.
What drives me is the opportunity to create purposeful, user-focused software - ideally products that empower people or contribute to positive change. With this, I'm especially drawn to open-source tools and socially impactful digital solutions.
I thrive when I can take initiative, lead processes, and stay visible across teams, whether that's designing intuitive interfaces, managing design projects, or collaborating closely with developers through my technical understanding. I aim to always embody three core principles within my design practice:
Outside of work, I'm a hobbyist photographer, an avid pianist, a volunteer firefighter (including training the youth), and an enthusiastic rock climber. Ironically, there's nothing quite as grounding as being off-the ground halfway up a rockface. A big part of what makes firefighting and climbing so meaningful to me is the team- and community-spirit in both of them. You wouldn't get up a mountain without a partner to rely on, and you couldn't put out a fire without a team!
