Leadership
I help teams make clear decisions on complex products.
My work often spans several teams, competing constraints, and decisions with significant product and business consequences.
I work closely with product, engineering, and business leaders to make the problem clear, work through tradeoffs, and help teams commit to a direction.
Leadership highlights
System clarity
Define rules, states, and models that reduce downstream risk.
Cross-functional influence
Help product, engineering, and stakeholders agree on decisions and next steps.
Decision leadership
Make the call when the evidence is incomplete and the team still needs to move.
Hands-on delivery
Lead when needed, execute when it matters.
How I lead
I usually start by getting everyone on the same page about the problem before we jump to solutions.
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1
Align
Create shared understanding before teams push toward solutions.
- Frame problems at the system and business level
- Make constraints explicit and decision points visible
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2
Decide
Turn ambiguity into a direction teams can execute.
- Surface tradeoffs early
- Explain decisions with evidence and clear reasoning
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3
Deliver
Translate intent into buildable work with engineering and partners.
- Clarify states, rules, and edge cases
- Give the team clear quality standards and practical ways to meet them
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4
Learn
Use outcomes to strengthen the system over time.
- Measure what changed and why
- Feed learning back into patterns, standards, and future decisions
Influence without authority
I often led decisions across teams I did not manage. I made the problem, evidence, and tradeoffs clear so Product, Engineering, vendors, and leaders could agree on a workable approach.
That usually means:
- Work through disagreements using evidence and the product’s behavior
- Translate research, analytics, business needs, and technical constraints into shared decision models
- Facilitate working sessions that expose edge cases and tradeoffs early enough to act on them
- Earn trust with engineering and partners by understanding how the work will be implemented
I help teams reach decisions they can carry through implementation.
“Derek is great to work for. He allows his staff to solve problems on their own, but gives good guidance if and when it’s needed. Derek has a strong understanding of the design process and is able to articulate it well and put the pieces in place to build great products.”
Building UX capacity at ACT
At ACT, I built the UX team’s capability, structure, and autonomy to support a broad enterprise portfolio and share critical knowledge across the team.
- Built and managed a team of five, hiring three designers and recruiting beyond the local market to widen the talent pool
- Developed a research coordinator into a stronger research contributor and coached designers in HCD, information architecture, and structured critique
- Owned labor and non-labor budget planning and negotiated MSAs with research, visual design, and UX partners
I stayed hands-on while doing this, leading cross-product strategy across 37+ systems and 5+ product lines. I built the team’s capability and autonomy while maintaining a consistent quality standard.
Scaling quality at Grey Dog
At Grey Dog, I helped a small agency deliver consistent UX across multiple clients by building reusable patterns and developing the team’s skills.
- Managed and developed a UX team of roughly 4–8 across full-time and contractor staffing while staying hands-on with product, analytics, and delivery
- Introduced component standards, reusable patterns, and foundational design-system practices to reduce rework and shorten review cycles
- Coached designers on craft and implementation realities while building governance around content, accessibility, analytics, and reusable production patterns
- Documented recurring work as repeatable practices that helped the team deliver consistent quality
“Derek helped establish a UX design culture corporate-wide by leading by example and rapidly prototyping concepts that clarified direction and informed decisions.”
“Not only is Derek a technical UX expert, he is also a strong leader of people. He empowers his team, providing guidance and support as needed.”
Case studies
These case studies highlight leadership, decision-making, and design execution under real constraints.
