eQu: A therapeutic riding saddle designed to support children with cerebral palsy. The modular system adapts to individual needs, helping riders benefit from the horse’s warmth and movement while ensuring comfort for both child and animal.
Publication date: 2025-12-17
Turning insights into impact: Stephanie Knödler on design and diversity
As an alum of the Advanced Product Design (APD) programme at UID, Stephanie Knödler has built a career focused on improving lives through healthcare design. She credits UID for shaping her design mindset, which began to take form through hands-on projects and immersive research experiences in Umeå.
Text: Jens Persson
Stephanie Knödler, alum of UID’s Advanced Product Design programme, now Senior Industrial Designer at Coloplast A/S, shaping healthcare solutions that restore confidence and independence.
One of the most memorable moments was a research trip deep into the Renström mine during her first year. “It’s amazing how Thomas Degn, our programme director, managed to get us thousands of metres underground so we could follow an entire working shift in a mine. When do you get an opportunity like that?” she recalls. The mining project with Boliden became a cornerstone of her education, combining real-world insights with expert feedback.
Stephanie also worked on projects that explored design’s role in therapy and wellbeing. One example was eQu, a therapeutic riding saddle designed for children with cerebral palsy. The modular system allows therapists to adjust the saddle for different disabilities and rider needs, while ensuring comfort for both horse and rider.
“With eQu, the goal was to give children a safer seat on horseback and bring their legs close to the horse so its warmth could help relax spastic muscles. It was about creating something that supported therapy while respecting the animal’s comfort,” she explains.
A career focused on wellbeing
Today, Stephanie is a Senior Industrial Designer at Coloplast A/S, leading projects in intimate healthcare alongside multidisciplinary teams of engineers, usability experts and material specialists. Her work spans the entire design process, from user insights and ideation to production.
While many projects remain confidential, one example illustrates her impact: Heylo, a digital leakage notification device for people living with a stoma. In that project, Stephanie was responsible for the product device design and was involved from the very first user interviews through ideation, concept creation and all the way to final production. Recognised by the Danish Design Award, Heylo helps users regain confidence and independence.
Heylo: A digital leakage notification device designed for people living with a stoma. Recognised by the Danish Design Award, Heylo helps users regain confidence and independence through discreet alerts and user-centred design.
Designing for diversity
Stephanie hopes the future of design will embrace cultural diversity rather than uniformity. “At the moment everything seems to get generalised, partly to reach the masses so companies can earn millions with minimal effort. I hope instead of everything starting to look the same we will embrace diversity again in design. This also goes for society! We are all different and that is fantastic.”
Inspired by nature and heritage
Her creative process draws inspiration from nature and cultural heritage. “We often forget the heritage of the past and believe innovation hasn’t happened yet. Maybe it partially did and we finally have technology or ways of producing that weren’t possible back then.” She also cites Dieter Rams as a lasting influence, “like probably for every designer,” she laughs.
Stephanie Knödler during her MFA studies at UID, working hands-on in the studio with the frozen Ume River as a backdrop. Practical experiments like disassembling everyday objects helped shape her approach to user-centred design.
Designing with purpose
Working in healthcare design comes with unique challenges. Regulations demand sterile, single-use materials, making sustainability difficult. “We try to challenge them though each single project until we most of the times get shut down by regulatory affairs,” she explains. Despite this, she seeks opportunities to reduce material use and incorporate sustainable alternatives where possible.
Her designs aim to restore confidence and independence for users living with intimate health conditions. “These products are designed so they fit into our users’ lifestyle and make them able to participate in life again. The biggest reward is always to see our users getting back into their life again prior to their condition.”
Life beyond design
Outside of work, Stephanie enjoys spending time outdoors with her horses and daughter. If she could revisit her time at UID, she would make more use of the workshop for personal projects. And if granted a design superpower? “Being able to design medical products without a carbon footprint!”