Welcome to release v2026.03!
Recently, our CEO Thomas ran an interesting AI experiment that caught the SPD’s attention. One LinkedIn post later, they were at our door, and we started talking about GovTech and the promise of UX design to turn the public-sector jungle into functional, user-centered experiences.
Interested? Read on.
P.S. Don’t confuse it with Goth Tech! 🖤
In this issue
- 🧠 Centigrade Recommends: Annett Bergk – A practical guide to AI in corporate communications
- 🏆 Success story of the month: LeanScope AI – user research at the push of a button?
- 🧐 News: What does an AI persona think of the SPD? Would it vote for them?
- ✏️ Article: Personas that talk back? Rethinking product development with AI personas
Until the next release!
Your Centigrade team 💙
Centigrade Recommends
A practical guide to artificial intelligence in corporate communications by Annett Bergk
Our reading recommendation this month has just been published.
The book offers valuable ideas for using AI across organizations. That’s especially interesting in the GovTech space, where the goal is often to make complex structures more efficient.
💡 Our CEO contributed an interview about AI personas as part of the book project. He explains how AI can help create accurate user profiles to make strategy and communication more targeted. A must-read for anyone who wants to understand how technology can help us reach people more effectively.
Success story of the month
User research at the push of a button?
Good user research is essential, but it takes time and budget. What if you could generate well-founded personas and requirements at the push of a button? Together with LeanScope GmbH, that’s exactly what we built: an AI tool that draws on our UX expertise to make research faster, more engaging, and more efficient. Goodbye lengthy processes, hello innovation!
News
How does an AI persona vote in the Wahl-O-Mat?
What if your target audience doesn’t vote for your party?
In an intriguing experiment around the elections in Rhineland-Palatinate, Thomas Immich had an AI persona with an SPD profile take the Wahl-O-Mat. The result was surprising: instead of favoring the SPD, the algorithm showed strong alignment with DIE LINKE. What’s more, the SPD came in eighth out of twelve, behind the Animal Protection Party, ÖDP, Volt, the Greens, BSW, and PdH.
What does this mean for the SPD’s platform? How well do AI-generated personas reflect real voter profiles? What opportunities and limitations arise when AI personas use political tools such as the Wahl-O-Mat?
The experiment caught the attention of SPD Saarland. We’re now discussing how experiments like this could help parties reach their target audiences more effectively. #GovTech
Article
Personas that talk back?
What if personas were more than attractive profiles, and became real sparring partners in a project? In this interview with Annett Bergk, Thomas Immich, Centigrade’s CEO and founder of LeanScope AI, explains how generative AI can make personas conversational, adaptive, and surprisingly lifelike. The article explores why good text can be more useful than perfect profile pictures, and how this can make user research faster and more insightful.