03 · TESTIMONIALS
What it's like to work with me
Quoted notes from managers, product managers, engineers, researchers, design peers and mentees - collected across fifteen year and six organizations
"Delekè's great at diving into messy, complex workflows. He gets into the weeds until he understands how everything connects, which makes him effective at solving problems that didn't have a clean answer. "
KARISSA LILOC
PRINCIPAL PRODUCT MANAGER · GETTY IMAGES · 2024 - 26
MANAGER
"I had the pleasure of managing Delekè as a senior product designer at Getty Images.
Delekè practices user-centered design with empathy and rigor. He leverages research insights to inform his recommendations, uses competitive review to ground his thinking, and collaborates closely with researchers and fellow designers throughout. His attention to detail comes through in his interaction design and in the thorough specifications he writes, and he works well with developers to see that work through to the final product. The result is consistently elegant experiences.
Beyond the craft, he is a genuine pleasure to work with. He is kind, calm, and empathetic, and always open to feedback. Any team would benefit from having him join."
CHRISTIAN LINDSEY
DIRECTOR, PRODUCT DESIGN · GETTY IMAGES
RESEARCH PEER
"Deleké and I worked together at Getty Images, where I really appreciated his approach to collaborating with research. He takes the time to understand who will be using the tools and what they’re trying to accomplish, using that understanding to guide his design decisions and establish a clear rationale for his choices.
That curiosity made him a great partner to me as a researcher. He could clearly explain the reasoning behind his design choices, balancing user and business needs with technical possibilities and limitations, while working within the existing design system. I’d gladly work with Deleké again and recommend him to any team looking for a thoughtful, collaborative designer."
ZACH MCDONALD
SENIOR UX RESEARCHER · GETTY IMAGES
MANAGER
"What makes Delekè stand out is his curiosity, user empathy, and collaborative approach. Working in the Shopify Logistics and Supply Chain space exposed him to complex, multifaceted challenges, pushing him to expand his design toolkit and develop a systems-thinking mindset. While at Shopify, he contributed to designing tools that helped streamline inbound workflows, improving efficiency for associates and enhancing the receiving process.
No matter the challenge, he approaches problems with determination and a strong focus on the user experience. His team-oriented nature helps foster alignment across stakeholders, making him a valuable collaborator and a positive presence on any team."
CARLING STURINO
PRODUCT DESIGN MANAGER · SHOPIFY
RESEARCH PEER
"No matter the challenge, he approaches problems with determination and a strong focus on the user experience. His team-oriented nature helps foster alignment across stakeholders, making him a valuable collaborator and a positive presence on any team."
MARYAM ZAIDI
SENIOR UX RESEARCHER · GETTY IMAGES
PEER
"No matter the challenge, he approaches problems with determination and a strong focus on the user experience. His team-oriented nature helps foster alignment across stakeholders, making him a valuable collaborator and a positive presence on any team."
LYNDSEY WEEDOP
PRINCIPAL PRODUCT DESIGNER · GETTY IMAGES
MANAGER
I hired Delekė as a UX Architect on a complex healthcare project with tight timelines and challenging requirements. Delekė impressed me from day one with his complete immersion in the project deliverables, user needs, and client specifications.
But if you’re reading this, you’re wondering whether his work is up to snuff. There are certainly people out there calling themselves user experience designers who don’t think much about users, don’t have the requisite design chops, or can’t work well with others. In this regard, Delekė is not like your average user experience designer out there! He is empathetic, smart, flexible, friendly, and highly, highly competent. I wholeheartedly vouch for him.
Delekė is a consummate professional. He easily communicated with our client and defended his design decisions with care. He produced usable and useful design deliverables that described complex functionality with clarity and ingenuity. He impressed the team with his commitment to collaboration and his attitude of respect.
Hire him. You will not be disappointed.
ALEKSANDRA LYONS
SENIOR DIRECTOR, CONSULTING · INVIVO
PEER
"I had the pleasure of working with Deleke at Getty Images, where we collaborated on several AI-related projects — new territory for us that required a lot of exploration, iteration and working through ambiguity.
What stood out to me about Deleke was the range he brought as a product designer. He has a real talent for taking complex problems and turning them into interfaces and flows that feel simple, clear and intuitive. He also cared deeply about making informed design decisions. We connected often throughout our projects, whether I was sharing findings from user research or pulling data from our dashboards, and he was always keen to use those insights to challenge assumptions and strengthen the design.
He was also someone I genuinely enjoyed collaborating with — thoughtful, curious, open to feedback and easy to work through problems with. Deleke brings strong design craft, solid product thinking and a real appreciation for research and data. I’d happily work with him again."
JESSICA RAYES
SENIOR SYSTEMS DESIGNER · GETTY IMAGES
MANAGER
"No matter the challenge, he approaches problems with determination and a strong focus on the user experience. His team-oriented nature helps foster alignment across stakeholders, making him a valuable collaborator and a positive presence on any team."
BETHANY FENTON
VP, PRODUCT DESIGN · GETTY IMAGES
PRODUCT PARTNER
"I worked as Product Manager with Delekè on several cross-functional AI projects at Getty Images. One thing that stands out about Delekè is his strategic thinking. He never just took requirements at face value. He digs into the "why" behind a feature and thinks about how it fits into the bigger picture. Delekè's great at diving into messy, complex workflows. He gets into the weeds until he understands how everything connects, which makes him effective at solving problems that didn't have a clean answer. I saw this firsthand when we were testing LLM rules for prompt upsampling. He was diligent, responsive, and very helpful on that project, which had a lot of ambiguity to work through. He's also easy and fun to work with, and genuinely kind.
Delekè is a great Product Design partner and I'm happy to recommend him to any team looking for somebody who is dependable and will dive into the details to make sure the best solution is being delivered.."
KARISSA LILOC
PRINCIPAL PRODUCT MANAGER · GETTY IMAGES
PRODUCT PEER
"Deleke is a true creative with an impeccable aesthetic and attention to detail. Deleke is able to collaborate in all aspects of creative in multimedia, including marketing strategy, because of his authentic love for all that is digital. He brings a unique understanding of designing for real users. I liked to call Deleke the creative director in the project because of how much I trusted his creative instincts and opinion in all that is designed. Deleke is a stylish and skilled UX Designer & Strategist who designed a beautiful and engaging application; conveyed by myself, the entire group and all stakeholders."
LAURA LINDSAY
DIRECTOR, EXPIRIENCE AT ASSURANT
MANAGER
"No matter the challenge, he approaches problems with determination and a strong focus on the user experience. His team-oriented nature helps foster alignment across stakeholders, making him a valuable collaborator and a positive presence on any team."