I had the great pleasure of working with Kitti Lakner on several design projects over the last three years. Kitti champions design for the what the customer needs, and tirelessly puts this first. She uses Design Thinking and other research methods to prototype and redesign until the project is right. I have seen her work hard to question assumptions a team is making in order to ensure that the orientation is appropriately prioritizing the customer need. Kitti understands how to be solid team member, while working quickly. She always returned my queries or suggestions immediately, with great input at every turn. In one project I observed her creative and expert eye when designing infographics. She is also very experienced with user interface designs, exhibiting a knowledge of making things as simple and easy as possible for the customer. I notice I have the urge to mention the customer in almost every sentence when writing about Kitti – because that’s really how I think of her. It’s always about the customer. I also worked with Kitti when she was designing a search experience that needed a complex integration of several knowledge properties that were a challenge and very difficult to align. She researched the technologies until she understood the pros and cons of all the choices in order to advocate for ever better design. That’s Kitti in a nutshell. She seems to love getting it as right as possible for the project need. I would always jump at a chance to work with Kitti on any project.