Kinnovis
Self-Storage management, made easy
Kinnovis is a technology company specializing in automated investment solutions and management systems for real estate operators. Its mission is to develop tools that fully automate and optimize self-storage operations.
What sets Kinnovis apart: Based in Austria, the company operates its own self-storage, coliving, and coworking facilities. It is a system designed by operators, for operators.
Role:
Product & Visual Designer
Scope:
Web Design, Visual Design, Art Direction, Market Research, UX Research, System Architecture, UI Design, Strategy
Tools:
Figma · Adobe · Gitub
Timeline:
2021 – 2026
Product Design & Strategy
Market Entry & Strategic Alignment
I joined the Kinnovis team initially as a design consultant. Facing a tight timeline and working within a lean team, the directive was clear: launch a high-performing product, fast. We needed a defined software strategy that directly addressed urgent industry pain points to establish an immediate market presence.
The Challenge
Defining Our Position
Back in 2021, the market was dominated by a single legacy operator. Kinnovis aimed to position itself as the premier modern alternative. The core objective was to empower business operators with complete facility automation—allowing them to transition to fully autonomous business models and refocus their resources on customer service and growth.
The Bundle
Kinnovis had a clear mission, but realizing it required a seamless, all-in-one ecosystem. We needed to architect a robust platform that operators and tenants could inherently trust.
Navigating Data Isolation
The self-storage industry was booming, requiring rapid execution. While Kinnovis owned a facility that aided in initial research, relying solely on isolated data risked misaligning our product with broader market needs. We needed expansive market validation.
The Data Trap
A common industry practice was locking operators into legacy systems by making data migration nearly impossible. We had to design an onboarding experience that proved Kinnovis was worth the shift.
UX Research & Audience Definition
Rigorous user research allowed us to rapidly validate our feature roadmap, ensuring we built solutions that solved actual situational problems. Because this was a B2B2C solution, we had to design dual interfaces: one for operators, and one for their tenants.
The Operator (Stefan, 45)
Goal: Manage 3+ facilities with a skeleton crew (or completely unmanned).
- Pain Point: Burning resources chasing late payments and manually granting gate access codes.
- Needs: A high-level bird’s-eye view of occupancy and automated “fire-and-forget” billing.
The Modern Tenant (Lisa, 39)
Goal: Rent a unit at 9 PM on a Sunday while moving apartments.
- Pain Point: Resistance to calling support, waiting for an office to open, or signing physical contracts.
- Needs: Mobile-first booking, instant ID verification, and immediate digital access to the unit.
"We needed to provide a B2B2C solution, one for operators and another solution for their customers."
Feature Architecture & Development
To secure long-term ROI and convince operators that Kinnovis was the last migration they would ever need, we bridged the gap in industry-specific technical knowledge with targeted feature development.
Feature 01
Intelligent Access Management
Both operators and tenants were wasting resources on facility access. Manual email codes were confusing, and permanent codes were a security liability.
Feature 02
The Operator Dashboard
An essential in our solution, dashboard needed tio provide a clear vision, be easy and data-safe. Launched in Q4 2021, the dashboard set a new UX benchmark for the industry.
Feature 03
The Customer Portal
To reduce operator overhead, we engineered a self-service platform placing account control directly in the tenant’s hands.
Feature 01
Intelligent Access Management
Automated Car & Parking Entrance
Phased out unreliable prepaid tickets in favor of secure, electronic entry.
Smart Trolley Allocation
Solved the problem of stolen or missing trolleys by automatically assigning one to customers upon facility entry.
Transferable Digital Access
Allowed tenants to securely grant digital building access to family or movers, a highly requested feature.
Digital Compartment Keys
Replaced physical locks and keypads with liability-free electronic locks, saving operators significant management time.
This was a strong pain poin from operators.
Feature 02. Booking Overview
Designed and built with Angular the Kinnovis Dashboard for operators went live Q4 2021, cascading with enourmous feedback mostly very positive. Looking now it does seem like a regular dashboard, but 5 years back, it did feel like it was very big step.
Information Architecture
What felt intuitive to tech professionals was often bizarre to traditional operators. We executed deep structural analysis and rapid iterations to flatten the learning curve. Several iterations were needed.
Cross-Functional Utility
We recognized the software had to serve management, sales, and marketing equally. We structured the UI to connect relevant operational data seamlessly across these departments.
Data Translation
Raw data was unusable if it cannot be interpreted. We focused on surfacing highly actionable metrics.
User Friendly
The UX maturity of the field was pretty low, we had the chance to set a benchmark and make it a delight to be used.
Feature 03. Giving Users the control
We wanted to reduce the resources needed in order to keep customers happy, for that we came up with a self service platform in which customers could hold all the power and manage their services anytime and anywhere.
Autonomy:
Tenants can now select units, update data, renew contracts, and process payments without operator intervention.
Seamless Integration:
We designed the portal as a white-label solution, allowing operators to integrate it natively into their own websites—a massive USP in the storage market.
Centralized Communication:
All contracts, pending payments, and legal approvals were routed exclusively through the app.
Scaling & Feature Rollout
As Kinnovis expanded across Europe, the Americas, and Asia, we introduced key pivot features to drive enterprise growth:
Advanced Data & Statistics
Challenge:
Proving that automation equates to long-term profitability.
Solution:
We built deep data visualization tools, allowing operators to track live performance and make decisions backed by quantitative data.
Interactive Facility Mapping
Challenge:
Operators struggled to visualize their inventory.
Solution:
We designed a dynamic, color-coded SVG map interface. Operators can custom-draw their facilities, allowing tenants to see exact unit locations, while management monitors real-time status (Occupied, Reserved, Overdue, Maintenance).
Jane AI Integration
Challenge:
Addressing high website drop-off rates caused by unit-size confusion.
Solution:
We integrated and trained an OpenAI-powered chatbot. Customers describe their inventory, and “Jane” instantly recommends the precise unit size and pricing.
Web & Visual Design
Website Redesign · Kinnovis.com
I led the iterative redesign of the Kinnovis marketing site to aggressively differentiate the brand from legacy competitors. The objective was to maintain an innovative, clean aesthetic while clearly communicating how Kinnovis’s various sub-products interlock to form a complete solution.
Graphic Design
Offline Brand Consistency
Extending the digital identity into the physical world, I managed the comprehensive brand design, including leaflets, exhibition booth architecture, and merchandise. This ensured that every touchpoint, whether a digital dashboard or an industry trade show, communicated the same high-fidelity visual language.
Booth Design
Merch
