Hi, I’m Berk,
I do research, UX/UI design & urban explorations.
I am currently working as a research assistant at KIT’s ITAS & UX Designer at ZeMKI’s Molo project.
WIP: A qualitative study on how neurodivergent people orchestrate digital media in everyday life in Berlin.
When I’m not researching digital media in urban contexts or designing civic tech, you’ll find me trying new skin masks, worrying about my plants, and walking around with my 20mm f1.7, digging bandcamp for dark cabaret folk-pop.
A few things I’ve been working on
From civic tech platform design/development to art installations about AI hype.
Molo – Civic News & Events App
Leading UX/UI and brand design (well, I am the only designer in the team) for a €1.5M BMBF-funded platform with local news and events focus.
Think: co-design workshops with citizens, ethical design strategies, funding presentation designs, 100+ UI screens, 200+ components, UX writing in my 3rd language (German), lots of A6 dotted paper, thinking out loud with developers.
2023 – Ongoing
Nothing But the Truth (And a Lot of Hype) Exhibition
An archive of imaginary AI startups that say the quiet part out loud.
Presented as an art installation at the Hype Studies Conference in Barcelona, because sometimes the best way to critique tech culture is to just… make it slightly more honest.
September 2025
Windows, Cursors, and the Invisible Layer of the AI City
A piece about how we visualize AI in cities—cursors, windows, and all the invisible layers that shape urban life.
Published on Better Images of AI (supported by BBC R&D and University of Cambridge)
August 2025
The Mystical Art of Making Maths Sparkle: A Wizard’s Guide to Statistical Sorcery
“As you navigate digital interfaces, you’ll increasingly find a sparkle icon used to represent ‘AI’, ‘AI features’ or ‘AI-driven processes’. In the following blog post, Berk Alkoç traces the emergence of this visual metaphor and unpacks the implications of using sparkles to represent AI. In his own 5 steps of statistical sorcery, Berk criticises the corporate narratives about AI as a magical transformation embedded in the sparkle icon, which masks the human labour, data, investment, and materials required to generate AI outputs.”
Published on Better Images of AI (supported by BBC R&D and University of Cambridge)
February 2026
Research
I explore how digital platforms shape urban experience, from mapping apps that construct “normative” navigation to AI visualizations in cities. My interests sit at the intersection of media studies, HCI, UX/UI design and urban geography.
Currently writing my thesis on neurodivergent navigation and algorithmic mapping in Berlin, and contributing to research on relational values in nature conservation at KIT’s PHILETAS group.