Derek’s current focus is on Design Thinking, and he’s also helped to provide input on the curriculum for our Human-Centered Design major. Derek is also an expert in Audio Production and Engineering and has taught other adjunct courses for NU in those areas. We expect to see Derek teach additional Human-Centered Design and Audio Production courses in the future.

Derek is teaching:

• Design Thinking

Derek Hoiem's career has spanned three decades in technology and music. Derek contributed to the design of many Microsoft products since Microsoft's early days as a user experience designer. Derek did the research that led to the Start Button in Microsoft Windows and designed much of the user interface of Microsoft Visual Studio. Derek then established his own record label and management company that went onto discover Capitol Records artist Allen Stone, and worked with the 90's supergroup Color Me Badd, American Idol finalist Jeremy Rosado, Byron "Mr. Talkbox" Chambers (5 Grammys with Bruno Mars), and rap artists/producers Je'kob and Daramola (producer for Social Club Misfits).

Derek currently coaches product teams and designs products for Fortune 500 companies through Launch Consulting based in Bellevue, WA. The cross between technology and music has also led Derek to assist various music tech startups like UK electronic artist Imogen Heap's https://creativepassport.net for giving artists control over their works on the Internet, and https://pitch.studio for turning artists into Siri-like intelligent assistants.