Derek Balmer is that most rare designer who can create beautiful layouts, understands how to design for accessibility and usability, and can create the CSS to implement his vision. It was such a joy to be handed a well-designed page that I just had to hook up, or to see an animation that adds that final touch of polish to the app.

Derek has always contributed to all aspects of concept generation and project development. His can-do attitude with a smile was always a good start to our high demand work flow. He tackled every project request including a demanding web design restructure, setting the company's accessibility design standards, and defining alignment across the core platform UX. He is a great team player and a true pleasure to work with.

I love working with Derek. He created a new standard in my mind for UX leaders. He's passionate, imaginative, and he takes a systematic approach to everything he does. You can always count on him to get projects across the finish line. He's also empathetic and fun to work with, while still being pragmatic and driving material changes at a variety of altitudes within the organization. He'd be a great addition to any team that cares about strategic focus, tactical prioritization, and building quality products.

There isn't a day that goes by that I don't appreciate the work that Derek did on the design system at Teladoc. The thoughtfulness and thoroughness of the system shows through with every challenge we throw at it. The work that Derek did is at the very front edge of design system work; from Figma to design tokens to framework code assets, his work has saved time and energy across the design team. Any firm would be lucky to have Derek and I miss his insight, patience and zen like calmness.