Dereck Villagrana, Product Designer
Product designer who ships what he designs, with research, prototyping, and just enough code to follow through.
I’m a product designer who builds what I design. I started in computer engineering, moved through graphic design, and ended up at the intersection of both — design thinking with enough code to follow through on it.
I’ve always been drawn to the question of why something works the way it does. Design, comp sci, systematic thinking — each one is a different way of asking the same thing. Figuring out that they connect was the thing that made everything click.
For a while I thought I had to pick one. Turns out I didn’t. The path I landed on lets me use all of it, and I’m still finding new ways to pull them together.
Currently
Seeking
Entry-level UX/UI Designer, IT Help Desk, or office/admin tech roles. On-site, hybrid, or remote, in the Central Valley or Bay Area.
Building
This portfolio. Hand-coded HTML, CSS, and JS. No Webflow, no Framer.
Open to
Introductions, coffee chats, and honest conversations about design work.
Tools
Design
Development
AI Tools
Research
Productivity
Experience
Best Buy
Technology Sales Advisor · Part-time
MYJ, Inc.
UI/UX Designer Intern · Internship
Body Sculpture Aesthetics
Product Designer · Freelance
Education
UC Davis
B.S. Design · Davis, CA
De Anza College
A.A. Graphic Design · Cupertino, CA
Certifications
Background
UI/UX wasn't where I started. I came in through computer engineering, taking HTML, CSS, Python, and C++ in high school, at De Anza College, and eventually at UC Davis. Somewhere in those courses I figured out that I enjoyed building things but didn't want to make engineering a career. It was a hobby, and I was honest with myself about that. In between CS coursework I was taking design classes to fill credits, and it clicked in a way the other stuff didn't. I already had Adobe experience from photography classes in high school, which put me ahead in graphic design. Logos, posters, layouts: I loved all of it and wanted to keep going.
So I changed my major, landed in graphic design, transferred to UC Davis, and then discovered UI/UX almost by accident. I needed credits. Davis had a course. I took it. And that was it. UI/UX was the intersection I'd been circling: design, systematic thinking, and just enough code to matter. Somewhere in there I realized that good design and good engineering ask the same first question: what actually needs to be true here?
Photography and coding taught me timing, patience, and precision. How something unfolds matters as much as where it ends up. Design taught me that constraints aren't blockers; they're the problem. Both still show up in how I work.
Philosophy
"The best designs go unnoticed. The best feedback I've ever received was someone saying the fix was so obvious they hadn't even noticed it."
- People, not users. Behind every flow is someone with a real task and a bad day: design for that, not a persona doc.
- Constraints are the brief. A tight deadline or a messy dataset isn't a blocker. It's the actual design problem.
- Details carry the weight. Spacing, copy, and timing are where craft either shows or doesn't.
- Small moments matter. A transition timed right, or a sentence that doesn't sound corporate, is what people remember.
The Sidelines
Football & Soccer
I watch one and play the other. Sports have a way of making everything feel more urgent and more possible at the same time.
Photography
Framing is the same problem whether you're in Figma or behind a lens. Still figuring out which one I'm better at.
Coding for Fun
This site is hand-written HTML. When something breaks, I find it more satisfying than frustrating, which probably says something.
Family & Gaming
A Saturday with family beats almost anything. Casual gamer who knows when to put the controller down.