CHIIR '26
Cleo: A Transparent and Controllable Chatbot for Conversational Commerce
Hybrid ranking + constrained generation makes chatbot recommendations auditable, not just fluent.
Kevin Schott
Open to new opportunities
Designing AI people can understand, trust, and control.
I’m a UX researcher and designer connecting human-centered research with hands-on experience in conversational AI.
Featured project · Conversational AI
Cleo
Making product recommendations transparent and controllable.
I designed and built a conversational product advisor that connects natural-language requests to traceable recommendations. People can inspect the reasoning, adjust their preferences, and compare options.
Explore the case study ↗
Evidence behind the experience
Research
How people search, understand recommendations, and interact with AI systems.
CHIIR '26
"I don't know anything about laptops!" — User Perception of Digital Product Advisors Adapting to Their Knowledge Levels
Novices benefit most from combined explanations and performance categories, whereas experts are unaffected either way.
MuC '24
What Did I Say Again? Relating User Needs to Search Outcomes in Conversational Commerce
Natural-language explanations improved perceived transparency and ease of understanding a recommendation, but didn't move decision confidence or purchase intent. Highlighting alone had no measurable effect.
MuC '26 workshop
Transparent by Design, Usable in Practice? A Formative Usability Study of a Conversational Product Advisor
Explanations were valued in principle but caused the single most severe usability problem in a moderated think-aloud study of Cleo.
ASIS&T 2025
Click-Click-Add – Product Search Strategies in Online Shopping
Identified nine distinct product-search strategies across 31 shoppers, mapped to information-seeking models.
ASIS&T 2026 (arXiv)
AI Overviews in Academic Search: Evaluating AI-generated Summaries of Search Results
AI summaries significantly reduced mental demand in academic search, while broader workload and satisfaction gains stayed non-significant. A context-dependent aid, not a universal one.
ASIS&T 2025
Leveraging Large Language Models for Dataset Discovery (co-author)
LLMs reduced workload for dataset discovery, but users stayed cautious about verifying results.
ACM Hypertext '25
Can I Trust and Share it? Enhancing Scientific Content in Social Media Posts (co-author)
AI-generated summaries were the most understandable enrichment strategy and increased sharing of scientific posts.
Beyond conversational AI
Earlier design work
Selected explorations in digital experiences, physical interaction, and creative technology.
Global Design Studio
A playful collaboration platform for design students, lecturers, and industry partners.
Watch project film ↗
NEOSUIT
A smart cycling jersey exploring touch interaction beyond the screen.
Explore the project ↗
MusicRadar
An interactive instrument that turns hand movements into sound and geometric patterns.
Watch project film ↗Research meets practice
My experience
My path spans media design, UX practice, and human–computer interaction research. I turn what people need into concepts, prototypes, and design decisions a team can act on.
Work experience
Research Associate / Doctoral Candidate
University of Duisburg-Essen
Sep 2026 – Dez 2026
Research Associate / Doctoral Candidate
GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences
Sep 2023 – Aug 2026
User Experience Designer
SprintEins GmbH
Jan 2022 – Jul 2023
User Interface Designer
sternundhuber GmbH digitalarchitektur
Feb 2021 – Aug 2021
Media Producer
Thieme Group
Sep 2019 – Feb 2020
Education
Applied Computer Science (Dr.-Ing.)
University of Duisburg-Essen
Apr 2024 – Dez 2026
User Experience Design (M.Sc.)
Technical University of Applied Sciences Ingolstadt
Oct 2021 – Jul 2023
Industrial Engineering in Media Design (B.Sc.)
Stuttgart Media University
Oct 2017 – Sep 2021
Open to new opportunities
Let’s build better experiences.
I’m exploring new roles in UX research and design, with a focus on human-centered AI. If that sounds like a fit for your team, I’d love to connect.
Connect on LinkedIn ↗