Lead Designer at Booking.com
Dean has done a great job getting onboarded and really integrated into the team. He quickly picked up where the previous designer left off and has easily become an integral part of the public transport team. Right away I saw that he was making some major improvements to the product, with some hesitation around changing what was already there which shows he's really conscious of not just creating more work without reason. He seems to be very good at collaborating with his team weighing value vs effort and coming to a solid prioritization of features. As well as identifying opportunities for process improvements such as managing UX tasks and creating the trello board like he did.
Dean is easily one of the most proactive members of the UX group he's consistently sharing his work for feedback as he works through it. He doesn't wait for a design crit which really shows his mark as a senior designer of the group and sets a really good example. He's also extremely passionate about UX in general, starting the design-muse channel has illuminated that. I myself have benefited from stuff he shared in there, again setting a great example of which I wish we had more of in Booking.
Dean's output is always of high quality. He's incredibly meticulous in his exploration trying out numerous iterations to showcase his reasoning and intention of how he concluded on his selected design solution. His communication skills really enable everyone in the group to see his thinking and process through his work cycle.
Dean isn't afraid to tackle problems outside of his team. His help with the confirmation and booking details page while our other designer was away is a great example of stepping up to make sure the team maintained much-needed momentum. He's very collaborative in the group as well. I've known of him having sessions with other members of the team about various topics. This is really beneficial to the overall group as it keeps our products and our thinking a lot closer together and I know the other designers have benefitted from his input and experience.
Head of design at Pitch
Dean is an incredibly passionate research-focussed designer and fast learner. He asks the critical questions to enable highly impactful design work while staying highly collaboratively and iteration-driven. Dean has a great understanding of research methodologies and knows how to move products forward and reassuring user success and happiness. And on top of that, he's a very humble and overall great person to work with. I can not recommend Dean enough!
UX Lead at Oliver Wyman
Dean is a highly skilled, creative and knowledgeable designer with an incredible work ethic. At Draw, we worked together on the build of a major banking app, on which he led the design of a full workstream - running workshops, managing stakeholders, designing wireframes and conducting usability tests. All the work he produced was of the highest quality and the clients wouldn't shut up about him. Dean is clearly a leader in the field and I genuinely hope to be able to work with him again one day!
Head of Product at HeliosX Group (Dermatica & MedExpress)
It was a pleasure to work with Dean at Tassomai. He bought a lot of rigour and experience to every stage of the design process, leading and shaping it from research to delivery. As well as being an excellent individual contributor, he's a great leader and an effective advocate for the value of design to people outside of the direct product organisation. I'd highly recommend him for any company looking for an excellent, passionate senior or lead designer who will proactively shape and develop their design function.