The journey of co-founding the German UPA regional group Freiburg (#11)
Motivation
We often read about success stories, which is obvious, because who is interested in failed attempts? Yet failure can be closer to success than we think. Even when everything appears to be going right, the wrong timing or the wrong people can derail a project. Here’s my own story, in which I’m now beginning a second attempt.
The journey
My first attempt at building a UX community was in 2018, using a Discord server. At the time, I only knew one other UX designer at my company, so I invited him to join. Because we saw each other daily at work and he was less active online than I was, the server never really took off and eventually became obsolete.
Next unplanned attempt
2020: The emergence of Covid-19 required everyone to work remotely from home. So my work colleagues and I set up a chat group to keep the communication going, since then our UX Team had grown. We arranged private lunch gatherings through Zoom to discuss the UX-related challenges and to stay in contact.
When I switched jobs, we needed a new communication channel that was independent of the company to keep in touch. A new Discord server aka UX Freiburg was created. Furthermore, we have also organized regular meetings in person. Especially in the summertime, when the Covid-19 restrictions were eased. During the Covid-19 pandemic, there was also a notable increase in job transitions in our group. Consequently, we would come across other UX designers and extend an invitation to join the Discord server. As the number of people increased, so did the level of activity, resulting in a feedback loop that attracted even more individuals. What therefore led to the founding of the German UPA regional group Freiburg with a total number of 19 people (28.02.2023). Side note: We used ChatGPT to create the email to request the registration of our UX community.
Besides our Discord server we have an official website.
Conclusion
In summary, the road to success sometimes happens when you least expect it. The Covid 19 epidemic and the increase in job transitions led to an increase in online activities and people, which resulted in the founding of the German UPA regional group Freiburg. With an official website, wiki, and Discord server, our group has developed a platform where people can exchange ideas, share knowledge, and support each other on their path to UX success. This demonstrates the value of teamwork and the power of a community to achieve goals. Kudos to my co-founders Laura and Miri, with whom we could not have made the Discord server scale up to this size.
Update September 2026: Five years of community building and a new chapter
Looking back at the past five years, it's pretty amazing to see what started as a small initiative has grown into a vibrant UX community in Freiburg. Together, we've built a network across several platforms:
360+ members on Meetup
200+ followers on LinkedIn
80+ members on Discord
Regular UX meetups, talks, and events bringing together 30–50 people, alongside smaller, more informal gatherings.
That's more than 640 community connections across our channels. Of course, there's some overlap, but it's still great to see how many people we've reached and connected over the years.
Along the way, we've organized events, shared knowledge, met inspiring people, and created opportunities for the local UX and product community to grow.
As things evolved, we developed different ideas about the future. While the others decided to focus on building and running Black Forest UX e.V. as an association, I personally prefer a more lightweight, flexible, and independent approach.
So, after five years of working together, we've decided to continue on separate paths.
I've stepped away from the association and will continue running the original UX Freiburg Meetup group independently, with a renewed focus on simple, accessible events, knowledge sharing, and connecting people who enjoy talking about UX and building better products
The Meetup group will remain open to everyone. That includes Black Forest UX e.V. and anyone else interested in reaching the community, sharing events, or collaborating. The only difference is that the group will continue to be independently managed by me. For me, community has never been about owning an audience or bringing everything under one organization. It's about connecting people, exchanging ideas, and making things happen without unnecessary complexity.
I'm grateful for everything we've achieved together and wish everyone involved with Black Forest UX e.V. all the best. Five years, hundreds of connections, countless conversations, and plenty of lessons learned. One chapter ends, another begins.