Based in California Bay Area
Darold Davis, MCSD, is a Chartered Designer™ with more than 28 years of experience working in digital interactive media creating digital products and services. Applying a range of tools, methods and processes to generate concepts and specify designs to help organizations develop new products, improve existing ones and explore new markets.
Principal at Replicant AD, Inc.
“Darold has been supportive throughout my entire journey at Designlab - during UX Foundations, when I was interviewing for apprenticeships and jobs, and while I was working full-time as a Jr. UX designer. He always encouraged me to go above and beyond with my coursework, so that I could stand out amongst other bootcamp students. Because I wanted to work with clients early on, he assisted me in setting the right expectations with clients and finding volunteer organizations I could work with. He showed me how to present my work to clients in a digestible manner. It was great to have a mentor who was supportive of everything that I was doing - both inside and outside of the bootcamp curriculum. During mentor sessions, Darold and I talked not only about my last few deliverables, but also anything else I had in mind - the sky was the limit. Darold is an expert on all things UX - concepts and brainstorming, research methodologies, information architecture, UX/UI, and prototyping/user testing. He always had supplemental resources to share if I wanted to delve deeper on a certain part of the UX process. In addition to providing technical insights, Darold has a wealth of knowledge on how to break into the industry. While I was going through the interview process for my current junior UX/UI designer role, he critiqued my resume and case studies, conducted mock interviews with me, and shared tips and advice for salary negotiation. Darold's an all-around fantastic mentor - I was just lucky enough to be paired with him!”
- Cindy W, UX Academy
“What an incredible experience it was to be mentored by Darold throughout my time at Designlab. Darold brings a wealth of knowledge and industry experience that guided me toward making more thoughtful design decisions and sharpened my overall skills in UX/UI. Darold's enthusiasm for UX and talent for sculpting young designer minds ignited my passion for the field and allowed me to tenaciously delve into my projects creating stronger user experiences. Darold also has a gift for combining constructive criticism with positive reinforcement when it comes to offering feedback. I never felt that Darold arbitrarily offered design feedback that wasn't genuine (whether positive or negative). Anytime my deliverables needed iterating he would ensure I fully understood why and how to resolve the issue. I wish there were 100 Darolds working for Designlab, because your students would come out the other side of this program with confidence and security in their new skillsets.”
- Ryan , UX Academy
“Darold was great! He was obviously an expert in the design field, and I appreciated all of his expertise and industry experience he was able to offer. I feel that I asked tougher questions than the typical student because I already work in the tech industry, but I was happy with the information Darold was able to provide about tooling, process, and best practice”
- Jim B, Design 101
“Darold was a fabulous mentor. He was personable, knowledgeable and has great insight. He has tremendous breadth in his experience and can speak about content and process in a variety of contexts. I greatly appreciated working with him and would highly recommend him as a mentor to any student in UI/UX, especially for experienced creatives transitioning in.”
- Jennifer Q, UI Design
“Darold is awesome! Really grateful that he is my mentor. He is cheerful, friendly, and extremely knowledgeable of the course material. He is also very helpful with any questions and understanding if I get slightly behind in any coursework. I hope to have Darold as my mentor for UX Academy.”
- Amy J, Design 101
“very knowledgable! has many additional resources and easily pulls in first hand work experience to show examples of how lessons apply in the real world. written feedback is pretty clear, often clarified in the weekly call. sometimes unresponsive/not timely. I would benefit from setting expectations of response time & preferred method of communicating between calls - during our first call, and checking in with how we are communicating at the beginning of each session. i wish DL promoted written feedback on work so that I could see how other mentors reflect on my peers work- would be a really helpful resource!”
- Calley P, Design 101
“Darold was a great mentor during my Design 101 cohort. We always had great conversations and really dove into my projects and how they apply in the workplace.”
- Carlo V, Design 101
“Darold was extremely helpful as a mentor, especially because I am new to design. He was able to explain things thoroughly and provide the resources I needed to expand my knowledge and learning. He provided amazing feedback and always gave great tips for improvement. Overall the best mentor I could as for!”
- Derek B, Design 101
“Great feedback on my work, very articulate and encouraging. Would highly recommend Darold as a mentor!”
- Litsa T, Design 101
“Wonderful mentor! Really made my experience in the course very great.”
- Garrett H, Design 101
“Darold is fantastic as a mentor. He is super prompt when it comes to feedback, doesn't miss out on details and is very considerate while giving feedback. He goes out of his way and shares examples of his own work and otherwise whenever he's making a case. He's also very accomodating when it comes to mentor sessions.”
- Tarun M, UI Design
“Great mentorship - thoughtful feedback and easy to talk to. Thanks, Darold!”
- Nora F, UI Design
“Darold is an excellent mentor. He is very knowledgable about the UX/UI design field with 10+ years experience and is willing to share what he's learned. As much as he likes to provide feedback and insight from personal experiences, he also allows room for open discussion and time for questions at the end of every mentor sessions. He is easily accessible and provided me with an ample amount of supportive material to read/watch to bolster my design learning experience. I would recommend Darold as a mentor because he shows key qualities of someone open and willing to teach design.”
- Richard C, Design 101
