Britta Burlin

About

Britta Burlin is a Principal Design Manager at Microsoft Research in Cambridge (opens in new tab), where she engages in both user research and design. Her current work focuses on researching the nature of collaborative work and how it shapes, and is shaped by, collective and individual intent at different altitudes. She is exploring what the future of collaborative work might look like, with a focus on the human experience and how AI can be used to amplify people’s abilities and enable more meaningful work.

Britta joined Microsoft Research Cambridge in 2020 and initially engaged in UX design and research of how AI can support knowledge transparency within organisations to enhance and improve people’s workflows and transform how work gets done. Before joining Microsoft Research, she spent eight years as a Design Manager at Outlook Design in Redmond, US, where she led various teams designing the user experience for Outlook across platforms. This included the UX merger of the original Hotmail/Outlook web service with the Exchange Outlook Web App (now M365 Outlook Web App). She also led a number of growth projects where innovative product solutions were developed for new business areas and customer segments.

Before joining Microsoft in 2011, Britta held the position of Interaction Design Manager at Whirlpool Europe in Italy, where she, as part of the Whirlpool Design Studio, led a team of interaction designers and developed strategies and designs for both physical and digital user interfaces for a wide range of consumer products. Prior to that, she held the position of Interaction Design Manager at the Electrolux Srl Europe design headquarters in Italy, where she designed user experiences for multiple appliance brands and home-automation products.

Britta holds a Master’s degree in Interaction Design and a Bachelor’s degree in Product Design from the Institute of Design (opens in new tab) in Umea, Sweden.