The Shy Guy Who Became a UX Lion

A Memoir About People, Pixels, and Finding Courage by Florian Fiechter

PROLOGUE - A Quiet Lion

If you met me at a café, you might think: “Nice guy. Quiet.”

But mention user experience, digital products, or anything that solves struggles for real people - and the shy guy disappears. A lion steps forward. A lion who wants the world to work better.

This story is about how that lion was born.

The Boy Who Watched Everything

Before the UX lion. There was a little boy who watched the world very carefully.

I grew up in Switzerland, mountains, cows, chocolate, repeat. Shy, but full of energy. A little disruptive and crazy in the best possible way.

I was the kind of kid who sat in the back of the classroom hoping the teacher would forget I existed, yet always ready to explode with ideas the moment something felt unfair or not right.

On the outside: quiet. On the inside: a hurricane of curiosity.

Adults often said: “He’s shy.”

But that wasn’t true. I wasn’t hiding. I was observing.

I watched how people talked and how they listened. How they smiled when something worked well. How they got frustrated when it didn’t. Even as a child, I felt their joy and confusion as if they were mine.

Little did anyone know, neither the cows nor the teachers, that this quiet boy noticing every tiny detail was already preparing for his future job:

Making the world a little less frustrating, one user experience at a time.

CHAPTER 1 - The Wrong Dream, or Maybe the Right One

Switzerland, 1995. The future felt open like fresh snow.

I wanted to work in advertising, bright ideas, loud creativity. A world where imagination earns applause.

Grown-ups looked at me like I had a hole in my ski helmet.

“Advertising? Can't earn any bread.”

I believed them. Sometimes we trust other people’s fears more than our own dreams.

CHAPTER 2 - The Office That Almost Killed My Curiosity

I went to the USA for a year, hoping for answers. I came home with good English and zero answers.

I tried retail school. Then business school. Safe choices. Choices that made time stand still.

Even the office plants looked bored. I was terrified that life might feel like this forever.

CHAPTER 3 - A Spark in the Wires

Then, the Internet arrived. A discovery as big as discovering that chocolate comes in bars.

Suddenly there were courses called Webmaster and Web Publisher. HTML. CSS. Design. Programming. The future glowing through a screen.

I worked during the day, studied at night. I built websites uglier than my teenage haircut.

But every line of code felt like possibility.

At the transport company, I built the intranet. People called with the same question every day: “Where is the vacation form!?”

I found an article online about watching users struggle, they call it Usability Testing. I tried it. People found things faster. Phone calls dropped.

A feeling grew: I can make life easier for humans. That matters.

CHAPTER 4 - White Mountains, Clear Mind

But routine pushed in again. So I escaped to Zermatt to teach skiing. Pure freedom. Parties.

Fresh mountains. Life without passwords.

But snow melts. Seasons end. Bills don’t.

Time to move again.

CHAPTER 5 - Sweden, the Place My Heart Invented

A friend told me about a company in Stockholm. I arrived at the interview with: 

• a broken arm

• a too big suit

• great hope

I got the job. Courage beat perfection. In Sweden, I found something powerful: a leader who trusted me like I mattered.

She let me explore UX like a crazy inventor. She let me fail and learn and try again. She taught me: Leadership cares first, pushes second.

CHAPTER 6 - When UX Learned to Dance

We were among the first teams in Sweden using Scrum. But unlike many: we built Scrum around UX.

We solved user problems before dreaming up features. We tested before we coded. We celebrated every insight.

And the company grew. Sales went up. Churn went down. User smiles multiplied.

This was more than work. It was purpose. It was proof that good experiences make the world better.

CHAPTER 7 - The Swiss Flags Whisper Again

In 2017, I visited Switzerland. The air smelled like belonging. The home-feeling was strong.

The Sweden dream faded.

I called my boss from Switzerland and said: “I think my heart is asking me to return.”

One week later, I was on the road back home to Switzerland.

CHAPTER 8 - A Storm Before Sunrise

Home wasn’t easy. The first job, hierarchy, rules everywhere, trust nowhere. The second job, toxic like acid rain.

I quit with no job waiting. A shy man making bold moves.

UX people were losing their jobs across the market. But I knew: Being in the wrong place kills more dreams than unemployment.

Sometimes jumping is survival.

CHAPTER 9 - Growing Lions

I found a company with good people and big challenges. I built a UX team and protected it like family. They grow, so I grow.

But the organization is a giant machine. Heavy. Slow.

UX often treated like a dry cleaner: “Do this. Quietly. Quickly. Don’t ask questions.”

But meaningful change takes time. Listening. Courage. Stubborn optimism.

Every small win is a sparkle of the future.

CHAPTER 10 - Becoming Who I Needed

People still see the shy guy, but now they also see the lion who roars, even if it makes others uncomfortable.

Make life better through experiences. 

• For users. For teams. For everyone touched by the products we build.

That mission never gets boring. Never gets old. Never shuts up.

The shy guy is still here. But the UX lion roars.

EPILOGUE - The Story Isn’t Over

Journeys rarely look like straight lines. Mine looks like a ski track after a beginner class.

But every twist had a purpose: to build someone who refuses to accept frustration as “normal.”

There are still mountains to climb. Products to improve. Teams to empower. Users to care for.

So if you want a story with a final happy ending…

Come back later. I am still writing it.