Darrell Estabrook
Verified Expert in Design
Designer
Richmond, VA, United States
Toptal member since January 5, 2019
Darrell has over 27 years of experience designing engaging and productive apps for customers and business employees. He's led the design for a mobile enterprise app that replaced a legacy, paper-based process for a national auto retailer. Darrell specializes in turning big-picture thinking into practical visual experiences. His creative, purpose-driven design approach helps business leaders realize their vision.
Portfolio
Work Experience
Design Lead
Cigna
- Led the creation of a design system for an ecosystem of 26+ internal productivity apps for a team of 13 designers. Increased UX consistency and decreased design time for prototyping and feature design.
- Planned and established team norms and work cadences for the design system, built Figma library components, and created comprehensive documentation, demos, and designer training. Additionally, I managed weekly library updates and publishing.
- Mentored six UX designers in weekly one-on-one professional development and design reviews throughout the year. Designers achieved professional development goals sooner than anticipated for the year.
- Led the design of three software applications within the ecosystem, oversaw stakeholder meetings and UX design, and collaborated with Agile teams. This ensured focused requirements gathering, expanded design options, and high-quality implementation.
Principle UX Designer | Subcontractor with Guidea
IBM
- Reimagined the mobile experience for IBM Maximo, an app for field technicians and inspectors used globally in commercial, industrial, and remote settings. Worked with IBM's VP executives in product and design to establish a vision.
- Created an all-new IBM mobile design system making UX efficient and effective in rugged environments. Balanced technical data presented in an easy-to-read tablet and phone experience.
- Led various IBM designers working on multiple products through regular team and one-on-one critique sessions to strengthen individual skills and overall product suite usability.
- Won the 2021 Gold Spark Design Award for product design, with the app being recognized for its ability to provide workers with help or assistance, even in harsh environments.
Design Lead | Design Team Manager
SingleStone
- Designed an enterprise productivity app to replace a paper-based process for a national auto retailer's 150 locations. This removed data entry errors and increased the number of vehicles processed.
- Crafted a mobile experience for state-wide energy customers to monitor their home energy usage and lower energy production loads.
- Created an enterprise dashboard design for the executives of a national insurance company. This increased the timeliness of reporting and increased the visibility of critical metrics.
- Designed a dashboard and research tool for financial brokers for a national financial modeling company. This increased visibility in new content and decreased time to find relevant content.
- Crafted a content management system of templates to support a 600-page website for a regional North Carolina hospital network. This reduced broken links and increased the speed at which patients could find content.
- Designed a grade-entry system for statewide elementary teachers. This reduced data entry errors and teacher time to input data.
- Grew, managed and developed the experience design team for four years.
Web Design Specialist
CSX Corporation
- Redesigned the main corporate website for CSX.com and served as a primary means of press release information for corporate communications.
- Designed several custom websites for the company's specialty lines of business, including intermodal and Alaskan pipeline.
- Contributed to corporate communications pieces such as press releases, annual reports, and time-sensitive web pages.
Web Designer
Vanguard Information Group
- Designed a regional monthly coupon service website. My efforts included UX design, interface design, and development using Microsoft Active Server Pages and monthly content updates.
- Designed animated banner advertisements for small businesses.
- Designed all company branding and promotional material.
Education
Bachelor's Degree in Management Information Systems
Ambassador University - Big Sandy, TX, USA
Skills
Tools
Figma, Adobe Creative Suite, Zeplin
Industry Expertise
Insurance, Automotive
Platforms
Web, Mobile
Other
Whiteboarding, Financial Systems, Productivity, Financial Design, Executive Presentations, Design Systems, Dashboards, B2B, Product Design, Design Thinking, Design Strategy, UI Design, UX Strategy, Visualization Design, Typography, Presentation Design, Agile UX, Agile Software Development, Enterprise Application Design, Dashboard Design, Prototyping, User Flows, Desktop App Design, Mobile App Design, Responsive Web Design (RWD), Data Visualization, Form Design, Responsive UX Design, UX Design, User Experience (UX), User Interface (UI), Complex Application User Interfaces (UI), Enterprise, Cross-platform UX, Communication, Collaborative Design, Design Leadership, Enterprise Design, MVP Design, SaaS Design, Web App Design, Design Reviews, UX Audits, User Journey Maps, User Stories, UX Leadership, UI Research, User Experience Design, User Experience Strategy, UX Research, UX Management, Data-heavy Design, Feature Analysis, Information Architecture (IA), Information Design, Qualitative Research, Rapid Prototyping, Remote User Testing, User Interviews, User Research, Wireframing, Creative Direction, Portal Design, Fintech, Ideation Workshops, SaaS, iOS App Design, Internet of Things (IoT), Data-informed Visual Design, Information Systems, Accessibility, Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Energy, Web Dashboards, User Testing, Interaction Design (IxD), Content Management Systems (CMS), App Design, UX Prototyping
Experience
- Web App Design - 20 years
- Design Systems - 20 years
- Product Design - 20 years
- UI Design - 20 years
- Enterprise Application Design - 20 years
- Design Leadership - 20 years
- Enterprise Design - 20 years
- Agile UX - 15 years
How to Work with Toptal
Toptal matches you directly with global industry experts from our network in hours—not weeks or months.
Share your needs
Choose your talent
Start your risk-free talent trial
Top talent is in high demand.
Start hiring