For the last 15 years, I’ve remained fascinated by building great things with great people. Currently, I’m a Director of Product Design at OpenTable, where I’ve helped build tools for restaurants all over the world.

My favorite part of this role is the orchestration. I love the challenge of taking an abstract idea and working with a talented, cross-functional group to shape it into something real. I refined this thinking in San Francisco, where I spent a decade and a half at companies like Inkling and UserTesting before finally returning home to the beautiful windward side of Oahu. 

Being back home in Kailua has given me a chance to reconnect with my roots and support the local community by mentoring aspiring designers. When I’m not building products for restaurants, I’m usually thinking about, making, and sharing food. I started a project called Darren Cooks Books to cook through every recipe in a single cookbook as a way to explore my heritage (and yes, I definitely need to pick that project back up).