# Derek Howles

> Staff Product Designer, Design Systems at Datadog

Location: New York, New York, United States
Profile: https://flows.cv/derekhowles

I'm a staff product designer for Datadog in New York City, where I’ve worked for over 10 years. I founded our design system (called DRUIDS) as well as the Design Systems team, which I managed for its first several years. My main focus these days is on building, maintaining, evolving, and being a technical leader for DRUIDS.

Before that, I was the lead designer in the the creation and launch of Watchdog, our machine learning-based software for automated anomaly detection and root cause analysis; led the design for Datadog APM (Application Performance Monitoring) as it expanded to become a market leader, and was the lead designer in the creation of Notebooks, Datadog’s platform for collaborative, data-driven storytelling.

––––––––––

Blog posts I’ve written/been interviewed for:

📝 “DRUIDS, the design system that powers Datadog”
🔗 https://www.datadoghq.com/blog/engineering/druids-the-design-system-that-powers-datadog

📝 “How we use RUM to make design decisions that enhance user experience”
🔗 https://www.datadoghq.com/blog/using-rum-to-improve-ux

📝 “How we use our Digital Experience Monitoring products to reduce friction in frontend testing and debugging”
🔗 https://www.datadoghq.com/blog/frontend-testing-and-debugging

📝 “How Datadog built an enterprise platform by scaling their design system with Figma”
🔗 https://www.figma.com/customers/how-datadog-built-enterprise-platform-scaling-design-system

––––––––––

Video series I’ve done:

▶️ “Datadog on … Design Systems”
🔗 https://datadogon.datadoghq.com/episodes/datadog-on-design-systems

▶️ “Datadog on … Data-Informed Product Development”
🔗 https://datadogon.datadoghq.com/episodes/datadog-on-data-informed-product-development

––––––––––

Conference talks:

🎤 “(CO-DE)pendent: Leaning into the technical to build better design ecosystems” at Figma Config 2023
🔗  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9fwTc0fRs0

## Work Experience
### Staff Product Designer, Design Systems @ Datadog
Jan 2021 – Present | New York, New York, United States

### Founding Designer + Team Lead, Design Systems @ Datadog
Jan 2019 – Jan 2021 | New York, New York, United States

### Senior Product Designer @ Datadog
Jan 2018 – Jan 2019 | New York, New York, United States

### Product Designer @ Datadog
Jan 2015 – Jan 2018 | New York, New York, United States

### Founder & Owner @ Blue is the Land
Jan 2013 – Present | New York, New York, United States
In charge of, well, everything for blueistheland.com, an online retailer of one-of-a-kind city maps and other geography-focused art prints.

Specific responsibilities include:
•  Designing the prints themselves
•  UI/UX/visual design, copy writing and all frontend development for blueistheland.com
•  Email marketing
•  Maintaining complex integrations with Shopify, CloudFlare and Zapier
•  Print production

### Freelance Designer & Web Developer @ derekhowles.com
Jan 2007 – Present
Broad experience with digital/print design and identity creation for personal and corporate clients, including companies in the biotech, financial, and nonprofit sectors.

### Co-Founder & CEO @ Rostercast
Jan 2012 – Jan 2017
Design- and product-focused co-founder of a web platform for projecting rosters, lineups, and depth charts for sports teams.

### Director of Communications & Digital Media @ North Carolina Association for Biomedical Research
Jan 2006 – Jan 2015 | Raleigh, North Carolina
Led communications and digital development for a nonprofit organization that supports life science education and research throughout the southeastern U.S.


## Education
### Bachelor of Arts in School of Journalism and Mass Communication
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Jan 2002 – Jan 2006


## Contact & Social
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/derekhowles
- Portfolio: http://derekhowles.com

---
Source: https://flows.cv/derekhowles
JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/derekhowles/resume.json
Last updated: 2026-03-30