Product designer in Berlin, Germany
Product designer in Berlin for SaaS, fintech and AI, in German and English
Looking for a product designer in Berlin who treats German text, the BFSG and GDPR as design problems from the first screen? I'm Maniruzzaman Jubayer, and I lead a senior design and development team in Dhaka, sharing 6 hours of your working day.
Design for the German string, and the English one fits.
Free 30 min intro call · One fixed quote · No retainer
Startups and scale-ups building SaaS, fintech and AI work with me
- Years leading a design team
- 3+
- Products shipped
- 20+
- Behance gallery features
- 22
- Clutch rating
- 5.0
Product designer and design lead, with a senior team behind me
Where Berlin products struggle, and what I do about it
Berlin builds for Germany and for the world at the same time, and German users and German law both ask a lot.
Problem 01
German breaks the layout
A short English label can grow to two or three times its length in German, and compound nouns refuse to wrap. Buttons overflow, tables truncate and navigation collapses. I design every component for German text from the start, with real strings and room to grow.
Problem 02
The BFSG made accessibility law
Since 28 June 2025 the Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz has required many consumer products, from online shops to banking apps, to be accessible. Many interfaces were never designed for screen readers or keyboards. I design to WCAG 2.1 AA as the floor and 2.2 AA as the target, and document both.
Problem 03
Consent has to be a real choice
Under § 25 TDDDG, non-essential cookies and tracking need opt-in consent first, given freely and without nudging toward accept, yet many banners still push people. I design consent, permissions and data settings that are honest and easy to read, and your data protection officer signs off the wording.
Problem 04
Mittelstand buyers want proof, not a pitch
In owner-managed companies, the person who signs usually runs the business day to day. They look for documentation, a clear Impressum, data processing answers and a product that looks dependable. I design the admin, onboarding and trust screens that answer those questions before a sales call has to.
Operations, fleet and marketing products I designed
A micro-task platform for teams and workers, a fleet management dashboard and an AI influencer marketing platform, designed with my team.
Product design · SaaS
OpsLoop
A two-sided platform for labelling, QA and content tasks, designed for both the teams and the workers.
View case study →
Product design · Logistics
FleetPulse
Real-time control over vehicle networks: tracking, scheduling and performance in one dashboard.
View case study →
Product design · Marketing tech
Markly
Discover creators, negotiate and manage campaigns with AI agents, all from one dashboard.
View case study →Does your interface still hold together once the German copy lands?
Hallo, let's talkWhat you get when I design your product for Germany
One senior team for research, interface and system, built for two languages and German rules.
A bilingual design system
Components tested with real German and English strings, with flexible widths and clear wrapping and truncation rules, so a translation never means a redesign.
BFSG-ready accessibility
Contrast, focus order, labels and screen reader order designed into every component, with accessibility notes your developers can test against.
Consent that respects § 25 TDDDG
Opt-in banners and privacy settings where reject is as easy to find as accept, and tracking stays off until someone chooses it. Your data protection officer approves the text.
Checkout for German shoppers
Payment steps that offer what people here reach for, with PayPal far ahead online and Wero now live for e-commerce, and a clear state for every outcome.
B2B onboarding and admin
Roles, permissions, audit trails and settings a Mittelstand IT team can approve, with the Impressum and data processing answers always in reach.
Handoff, or the front end
Specs and a walkthrough for your developers, or React and Next.js with full internationalisation, built by my team. See development.
My product design process for Berlin teams
Four steps, with German copy and accessibility in the plan from the start.
- 01
Free 30 minute intro call
We talk in English on Google Meet in your morning. Show me the product, the screens that break in German and the date you are working to, whether that is a launch or a BFSG review.
- 02
Written scope and one fixed quote
A written plan covering the flows, the languages, the accessibility level and the research, with one fixed quote for the whole project and no retainer.
- 03
Sprints with real German copy
Weekly sprints in Figma using your actual German and English strings or your translator's drafts, never placeholder text, with Slack updates every 48 hours.
- 04
Handoff and build
A documented bilingual design system and accessibility notes, or the front end built by my team and tested by keyboard and screen reader before release.
Working with me from Berlin
- Languages
- English in meetings; interfaces designed for German and English, with German copy from your team or translator
- Shared hours
- 6 hours of your day; Dhaka is 4 hours ahead of Berlin in summer time and 5 in winter
- Working week
- Monday to Friday, with calls booked in Berlin time
- Ways to talk
- Slack, Google Meet and Figma comments, with written updates every 48 hours
What Berlin builds, sector by sector
Dealroom's 2025 report for the Senate values Berlin's startups at €169 billion, 43% of Germany's total. These are its strongest sectors and what each needs from design.
Enterprise software
Berlin Partner names enterprise software among the sectors driving the city. Selling to German companies means role-based admin, audit trails and settings that survive an IT and data protection review.
Fintech
Fintech is one of the city's growth drivers. Onboarding and checkout have to feel as dependable as a savings bank, with PayPal and now Wero in the mix for online payments.
Climate tech
Berlin has more than 340 climate tech startups, which have raised over €800 million since 2024. Their users need live energy data, honest savings figures and maps that read at a glance.
AI products
Berlin has more than 9,000 frontier AI experts, third in Europe after London and Paris. AI products here must explain what they do with data before anyone will try them, in German too.
Digital health
The capital region counts over a hundred digital health startups and 140 hospitals. Patient and clinician tools need plain German, accessible forms and consent that survives a data protection review.
Mobility and logistics
More than 17,000 companies work in the region's transport, mobility and logistics cluster. Drivers and dispatchers need live status, large touch targets and screens that work in a van, not only at a desk.
How I work with your Berlin team
Clear agreements, shared hours and a written trail, from Dhaka.
You talk to the people doing the work
You speak to me and to the designers and developers on your product directly, in English, in one Slack channel. No account manager passes messages along, so a question about a German label is answered by the person who drew it.
Most of your day overlaps mine
Dhaka is four hours ahead of Berlin in summer time and five in winter, so we share 6 hours of your Monday to Friday. Your nine o'clock stand-up lands in my early afternoon, and design reviews fit before your lunch.
Agreements in writing
Scope, decisions and changes are written down and dated. Designs live in Figma, progress arrives in Slack every 48 hours and a weekly call keeps everyone aligned, which suits teams that want a paper trail before they sign.
I know the German market
I design for German text length, the BFSG, GDPR and § 25 TDDDG, the Impressum and the payment methods German shoppers use. German copy comes from your team or translator; I make sure the layout carries it.
With me, a Berlin hire or a freelancer
The honest trade-off for a Berlin startup, including where a local hire is the better choice.
| What you get | With me | In-house hire | Freelancer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ready within days, with no recruitment process | Yes | No | Yes |
| Senior designers and developers in one team | Yes | No | No |
| Interfaces designed for German and English text from day one | Yes | Sometimes | Sometimes |
| Accessibility for the BFSG built into components | Yes | Sometimes | Sometimes |
| Speaks German in meetings | No | Yes | Sometimes |
| No employment contract or notice period to manage | Yes | No | Yes |
| A fixed quote for the whole project, agreed up front | Yes | No | Sometimes |
Who I help in Berlin
Four kinds of teams in the city I am set up to help.
Funded startups after their first round
Seed and Series A teams whose product grew faster than its design. I bring a senior lead and a team to rebuild the core flows and the design system before the next raise.
Scale-ups going international
In Berlin startups 42% of employees come from abroad, by the German Startup Monitor 2025, so teams often work in English and sell in German. I design systems where new languages and markets slot in cleanly.
Software for the Mittelstand
Teams selling to owner-managed German companies, where the buyer often runs the business. I design onboarding, admin and trust screens that answer data protection and support questions before procurement asks.
Foreign teams entering Germany
Companies from the UK, the US or elsewhere launching to German users. I adapt the product for German text, BFSG accessibility, cookie consent and local payments, so the launch does not stall on details.
Other services for Berlin teams
A German launch usually needs the website and the app to speak German too.
What founders say about my work
Working with Jubayer and the team has been a blast. Their creativity has honestly taken our platform to new heights. Incredibly professional and so proud to work with, we’re over the moon with their results, and we can’t wait to team up with them again.
I highly recommend Jubayer for any design project. He quickly grasps complex concepts, excels in standard design practices, and responds promptly.
Working with Jubayer on our website was fantastic from start to finish. He took the time to understand our vision and provided valuable insights.
Product design in Berlin: frequently asked questions
Answers on German text, German law and working across Dhaka and Berlin.
How is the cost of product design in Berlin worked out?
By the work, not the hour. The number of flows, the languages, the accessibility level, the research and whether my team builds the front end all shape it. After a free 30 minute intro call I write a scope and give you one fixed quote for the whole project, with no retainer and no surprise invoices.
Can you design interfaces in German?
Yes, the layout and the system. I design with your real German strings, test long compounds and formal or informal address on every component, and set rules for wrapping and truncation. I am not a German copywriter, so the words come from your team or a translator, and I make sure the design carries them.
Does the BFSG apply to our product?
It may. Since 28 June 2025 the BFSG has covered consumer services such as online shops, banking, e-books, and many apps and websites. Micro-enterprises providing services, with fewer than 10 employees and under €2 million turnover, are exempt. Your lawyer confirms the scope; I design to WCAG 2.1 AA as the floor and 2.2 AA as the target.
How do you handle cookie consent in Germany?
Under § 25 TDDDG, cookies and tracking that are not essential need opt-in consent first, freely given and without nudging people toward accept. I design banners where reject is as visible as accept, plus privacy settings people can return to at any time. Your data protection officer approves the final text.
Do you include the Impressum and legal pages?
Yes. A German site or app that offers services commercially needs an Impressum under § 5 DDG, easy to reach from every page. I design it into the footer and the app settings, with the privacy notice and cookie settings beside it. The legal text comes from your lawyer; my job is making it easy to find.
Do you design B2B software for the Mittelstand?
Yes. In owner-managed companies the decision maker is often in the room, so the product has to answer their questions in the interface: who sees which data, where it is stored, how support works. I design clear admin, role and audit screens, plus the documentation pages that let a careful buyer say yes.
Which payment methods should a German checkout show?
Start from what people use. The Bundesbank's 2025 payment study found PayPal far ahead among internet payment methods, and Wero went live for online shopping in Germany in November 2025. I design checkouts that show the methods your audience expects, with clear pending, failed and refunded states. Your payment provider handles the integration.
Do you design AI features for German users?
Yes. AI features have to explain what they do with personal data before people will trust them, and GDPR applies to every piece of personal data they process. I design them with plain explanations, visible sources and easy ways to correct or switch off the output. More in my notes on AI features people trust.
How do we start a Berlin project?
Book a free 30 minute intro call in Berlin time, in English. Bring a screen that breaks in German or a flow you worry about under the BFSG, and I will show you on the call how I would approach it. The written scope and one fixed quote come after.