Open To Work
Derek Larson
Fort Collins,CO
Summary
Dynamic UX Strategy & Design Team Manager with a proven track record at Hach, excelling in user-centered design and accessibility integration. Spearheaded the development of a comprehensive design system, enhancing customer experience and reducing support costs significantly. Renowned for mentoring talent and fostering a collaborative team environment that champions the voice of the customer.
Overview
25
25
years of professional experience
3
3
Certifications
Work History
UX Strategy & Design Team Manager
Hach
LOVELAND, CO
01.2023 - Current
- After sabbatical, returned to Hach to rebuild the UX Team (again). Responsible for hiring a new highly interdisciplinary and fast-paced team within six months. Defining MVP collaboratively with Product Managers, executing qualitative/quantitative research, storytelling of design through prototypes, and leading design execution.
- Top Manager Rating – highest manager rating in Loveland Innovation team, specifically in mentoring, career growth, and employee engagement
- 20 Most Wanted (customer pain points) – crafted the top 20 biggest user pain points across Hach product line, engaged the team with elimination & mitigation of 11 of the 20, reducing support costs in installation by $386k per year
- Packaging Standards – uncovered poor OOBE Usability score of 34%, took initiative to develop a new packaging standard and reduce shipping costs by 25%
UX Strategy & Design Team Manager
Hach
LOVELAND, CO
01.2019 - 01.2022
- Built a team of wildly smart and collaborative UX designers & researchers who fiercely advocate for the voice of the customer (VOC). By grounding the team in user centered design (UCD) and uncovering the why?, we remove subjectivity and shift mindsets towards user research and use customer-first decision making across SaaS platforms, embedded software, complex chemistry, and new product development.
- Design System 3.0 – coordinated the creation, implementation, and governance of a 3rd generation Figma design system and component library across mobile, SaaS offerings, and new product development
- Accessibility Integration (WCAG 2.2 / Section 508) – established accessibility guidelines, trained staff, and incorporated them into new Figma design system
- Cost of Frustration (Kano) Model – measured the cost of bad CX across all touchpoints on a scale from extreme frustration to extreme delight to cut costs
- Embedded Behavioral Analytics – led the creation and implementation of analytics to measure success and failure conditions as part of the outcome definition of new initiatives
UX Group Manager
Federal Reserve Bank
SAN FRANCISCO, CA
01.2010 - 01.2013
- Oriented team to focus on what has the most value to customers while balancing business and technology objectives, as well as limitations. Grew teams of high-talent individuals. Combined understanding of roadmap and feature definition with design expertise to create a unified approach to development and user experience. Consulted across Federal Reserve System to design experiences that are both unique and intuitive.
- Built National UX Framework – for integrating UX research & design into Agile and Waterfall development methodologies
- Usability Lab – managed the centralized usability lab, recruited users, wrote testing scripts, conducted tests, gathered results, and crafted multi-media reports
- New Social Intranet – built the Fed’s first modern social intranet, with simple WYSIWYG self-publishing tools, and sold said plan to C-level executives
- SharePoint CMS Migration – crafted a new content publishing system with simple WYSIWYG publishing tools with built in interaction and design standards
- Annual UX Workshops – hosted & featured speaker at annual UX Workshops featuring Cooper Interaction Design, Jared Spool, and the Nielsen Norman Group
UX Optimization Manager
Symantec, inc.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA
01.2006 - 01.2010
- Implemented this Fortune 500 company’s corporate intranet, Content Management System (CMS) and first social network platform. Refined broad business strategies into actionable roadmaps. Creatively solved business problems with limited financial and IT resources. Built strategic relationships across all major departments and business units to ensure successful adoption of new systems.
- Multiphase CMS (TeamSite) – managed a $2M re-design and development to a more efficient and user-friendly enterprise content management system.
- New Corporate Intranet – Supervised the resourcing, development, implementation, training, and management of the new corporate intranet. Leveraged organization-wide relationships to ensure successful adoption
- Social Network Deployment – managed development, implementation, and engagement strategy for Symantec’s first employee social network
Web Manager
Network Appliance, Inc.
SUNNYVALE, CA
01.2001 - 01.2006
care for aging parent
Sabbatical
FORT COLLINS, CO
01.2022
UX Design Team Manager
MyCase
FORT COLLINS, CO
01.2022
- A player-coach manager for a team of product designers, learning and interpreting the needs of our users. Envisioning how users want to experience our products and then bring that vision to life in a way that feels inspired and thoughtful.
- Fundamentals/Invoicing – led re-design of the workflow & design for a next generation product suite with new Information Architecture, consolidated task flows, and advanced interaction to deliver customer value at a higher price point
- Hell-Yeah Design System – used my design fluency with user interface patterns for desktop, and mobile experiences in a new WCAG 2.1 compliant design system
Education
Bachelor of Arts -
Ithaca College
Ithaca, NYSkills
- User-centered design
- Design system implementation
- Accessibility integration
- Prototyping and storytelling
- Qualitative research
- Customer experience optimization
Certification
CXA - Certified User Experience Analyst
Work Preference
Work Type
Full TimeLocation Preference
RemoteTimeline
UX Strategy & Design Team Manager
Hach
01.2023 - Current
care for aging parent
Sabbatical
01.2022
UX Design Team Manager
MyCase
01.2022
UX Strategy & Design Team Manager
Hach
01.2019 - 01.2022
UX Group Manager
Federal Reserve Bank
01.2010 - 01.2013
UX Optimization Manager
Symantec, inc.
01.2006 - 01.2010
Web Manager
Network Appliance, Inc.
01.2001 - 01.2006
Bachelor of Arts -
Ithaca College