Understand.
Align.
Decide.

Hi, I’m Daniel — a Product Design Lead bridging UX, product thinking, and how teams actually work.

I help teams slow down where it matters, create shared understanding, and make confident decisions in complex product environments.

Let's have a conversation

Hi, I’m Daniel Summerill — a Product Design Lead helping teams navigate complexity through UX, product thinking, and the way work really happens.

A bit about me

How I work.

Adapting my approach to the context I’m working in — balancing hands-on support with shaping direction, systems, and ways of working. With focus on creating clarity, alignment, and momentum in complex product environments.

Icon

Strategic framing

I help teams step back before committing to solutions — bringing together insight, business context, and delivery constraints to align around clear problems and direction.

Icon

Systems & foundations

I introduce and evolve systems, standards, and tooling that support consistency and scale — adapting approaches to suit both growing teams and more established product environments.

Icon

Leadership & enablement

I focus on developing people as well as products — leading through mentorship, guidance, and example. I support individuals at different stages of their growth while strengthening practice through shared standards and confident decision-making.

Icon

Relationships & alignment

I build trust across disciplines to break down silos and improve collaboration. By understanding the product lifecycle, I help bring the right voices into the conversation and connect teams around shared outcomes.

Selected impact.

A small selection of examples that show how my work tends to show up in practice — shaping systems, developing people, and helping teams move forward with greater clarity and confidence.

01
Design Systems at scale
Systems & Foundations
Strategic Framing
Leadership & enablement
Relationships & alignment

Shared ways of working introduced across teams to support more collaborative, cross-squad workflows — enabling consistent patterns, shared standards, and scalable ways of working. This demonstrated an ability to introduce alignment and change across varied organisational contexts, supported by ongoing learning and collaboration that helped teams move forward more effectively and in alignment.

View design systems case study >

Service
02
Leadership and mentoring
Leadership & enablement
Relationships & alignment

Design leadership provided through mentoring, guidance, and structured development — supporting individuals and teams at different stages of maturity to grow confidence and strengthen decision-making. This demonstrated an ability to establish clearer standards, expectations, and progression within growing design functions.

View capability building case study >

Service
03
Embedded expertise
Strategic Framing
Relationships & alignment

Embedded within teams to provide product design leadership in ambiguous and evolving contexts, with scope expanding through trust, relationships, and impact. This demonstrated an ability to shape direction, support delivery, and help teams navigate complexity with greater clarity and confidence across a range of business environments.

Coming soon!

Service

Writing & perspective.

Reflections and perspectives have shaped my work — covering design leadership, systems, and working effectively within complex product environments.

View all posts
Portfolio

January 2026 | Systems

UX beyond 'designing' buttons

Facilitation, learning, and shared understanding turn systems into better ways of working across teams.

View blog post >

Portfolio

January 2026 | Artificial Intelligence

AI as support, not substitution

We all talk about tools at work — the ones that promise speed, clarity, or better outcomes. But the tools that matter most are usually the ones that quietly support the work, not the ones that try to do it for us.

View blog post >

Portfolio

November 2025 | Accessibility

Designing with accessibility in mind

Accessibility isn’t something to retrofit or delegate — it’s a shared design responsibility that leads to clearer, more usable, and more human digital products.

Portfolio

November 2024 | Data

Turning data insights into impactful design

How balancing data with creativity can help you design solutions that connect deeply with your users.

View blog post >

Let's talk!

If you’re interested in working together, or just want to chat, feel free to get in touch.

Socials

Location

Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.