Product & UX Case Studies
Five examples of solving difficult product problems at system scale—from 0→1 platforms and enterprise workflows to ecommerce conversion and cross-product strategy.
Across the work, I move from evidence to system model to shipped decisions—aligning Product and Engineering while staying close enough to implementation to make the strategy survive delivery.
Selected Work
ACT Roadmap Builder pathway-planning experience connecting schools, majors, careers, and learner information.

Unified ACT Experience

UX Strategy, Systems Design & Delivery · ACT · EdTech

Reframed a fragmented ecosystem of 37+ systems and 5+ product lines into a longitudinal learner experience.

Led UX strategy and cross-product alignment, shifting roadmaps from product silos toward learner continuity.

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Redesigned Hy-Vee product detail page showing product options, fulfillment, and variation selection.

Product Detail System Redesign

Product Strategy, Research & Delivery · Hy-Vee · Consumer Ecommerce

A 100+ product audit revealed that the PDP problem was really a product-model and variation-system problem.

Authored the rules, aligned Hy-Vee with ProdX on two API changes, and helped move Similar Items conversion from 0.82% to 1.49%.

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Vertex 3D collaboration interface with model review, comments, and collaborative markup.

3D Modeling Cloud Collaboration Platform

0→1 Platform Design, Strategy & Delivery · Vertex · Manufacturing & Engineering SaaS

Founding Lead UX Designer and sole designer in year one, defining the 0→1 collaboration model for complex 3D work.

Designed around CAD, security, performance, and research-access constraints—and implemented React/CSS changes in the product repository.

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Innovation Refunds Knowledge Center interface supporting guided sales conversations and governed internal guidance.

Internal Sales Enablement Platform

Product Leadership, UX Research & Delivery · Innovation Refunds · FinTech

Conceived and led an internal enablement product in the absence of a formal product manager.

Studied expert sales reasoning and turned tacit knowledge into nine customer archetypes, reusable conversation patterns, and governed guidance.

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PearsonAccess Next task-oriented student administration workflow interface.

PearsonAccess Next

Interaction Design, Field Research & Prototyping · Pearson · EdTech

Hand selected by the Core Engineering director as sole interaction designer for a ground-up test administration redesign.

Translated field research into personas, task-oriented IA, interaction design, accessibility guidance, and a working front-end prototype.

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Colleague feedback
Derek excels at clarifying complex problems and making the right tradeoffs visible. He consistently aligns teams around shared understanding, allowing decisions to move forward with confidence rather than opinion.
Jason Engelbart

Product Design Leader | Ex-Amazon


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Experience Index
The case studies only cover a slice of my work. The Experience Index is a quicker way to scan the products, domains, and problems I’ve worked on over the years.
Let’s Connect
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