I'm Derry Birkett, a Design Director who builds teams, systems, and product-quality habits.
I have spent 18 years moving between enterprise software, scaleups, startups, and agencies: Oracle Netsuite, CloudBees, Exabyte / Mat3ra, Telanto, Hugo Boss, Esprit, Bikesoup, IESE, and Technogym.
My work is usually at the point where craft alone is not enough: hiring needs a clearer loop, research needs a cadence, design systems need adoption, and product teams need design judgment early enough to change what ships. I travel between London and Barcelona and work globally.
18
Enterprise, scaleup, startup, agency
3 → 9
CloudBees design organisation growth
Oracle
UI Catalog, UI Library, adoption
UK · EU · US
Product, brand, research, AI labs
The operating model I install around design teams.
I build the loops that help product design organisations ship: hiring, reviews, research cadence, systems adoption, and the creative judgment that keeps product quality coherent across teams.
How I build design organisations.
Leadership, operating cadence, research infrastructure, and creative direction. For orgs hiring a Head of Design or Design Director.
See approach to teams →How I approach focused engagements.
Design systems, sprints, AI-augmented practice, and the underlying methodologies. For product teams who want focused project work.
See approach to work →Problem first
Interviews, observation, contextual research
Reframe it
Synthesis, brief, team alignment
Explore widely
Prototypes, co-design, concepts
Ship + measure
Handoff, systems, success metrics
“Derry is so great at seeing the bigger picture of the things we work on, he's not afraid to ask tough questions and wants to understand the user, he's driven and doesn't wait to be told what to do before starting to make a big impact. I really appreciate him keeping us all honest. He's exactly the kind of designer you hope to manage.”
I write about design leadership, systems, AI agents, and research maturity. I also keep a studio archive for demos, videos, and build-in-public experiments.
Focused engagements with a clear scope and outcome.
Three packages built around the work product teams most often need: a fast audit, a systems sprint, or ongoing product and design strategy.
AI/UX Audit
€8,000A focused review of your product's UX or AI feature set. Delivers a prioritised written report and recorded walkthrough with actionable recommendations.
Good for: Companies evaluating a specific problem area, or wanting a quick win before committing to a larger engagement.
Design Systems Sprint
€24,000Set up or repair a component library for your product team. Delivers a Figma library, design tokens, documentation, and a handoff guide.
Good for: Post-seed startups or scale-ups with messy design debt who need a working system, not a six-month project.
UX+AI Fractional Product Design Retainer
€4,500/monthOngoing design and strategy for companies building AI-native products or internal tools. Weekly sessions, design work, and documentation.
Good for: Companies that need a senior product and design brain without a full-time hire.
Use the Work with me form to start a conversation about any of these packages, or email directly if you already know what you need.