I help people unlock their potential through design.
Creative Workshop
Have you ever struggled to complete a design project on time? Or felt that having a tight deadline stifled your capacity for maximum creativity? If so, then this book is for you. Become a more effective creative thinker with this design bestseller.
Buy it on Amazon.com.
Turning People into Teams
Collaborative strategies work when they're designed by teams—where each person is heard, valued, and held accountable. This book is a practical guide for team leaders and individual contributors who want to play by a better set of rules. Buy it on Amazon.com.
Teamwords: Working Deck
This card deck is a simple way to align your teams, fast. They’ll help you identify what’s most important to you when you work on a team, describe your shared values and behaviors, and agree on what behaviors will help your team work together successfully. Get your copy here.
Collective Action Toolkit
I'm co-author of a popular design thinking toolkit from frog, created for leaders who want to work with groups to solve problems in their community. Download it here free, or read my case study about how we made it.
Success by Design
This book contains the business secrets I needed most when I started as a designer 20 years ago. It will help you become a stronger businessperson and better plan your career path as a creative leader. Buy it on Amazon.com.
What’s Coming Next?
I’m working on some top-secret writing projects through Ask The Sherwins, including research and futurecasting work in the health and wellness space. Contact me if you’re interested in collaborating!
Hi, I’m David. Nice to meet you.
I help teams create great products and become better collaborators. This includes advising founders and leaders, as well as providing fractional consulting to help organizations define, design, and ship high-impact products and services. This often requires wearing multiple hats as product manager, user researcher, product designer, writer, and teacher.
I especially enjoy helping companies establish product-market fit for new products and features. Some of the industries I've worked deeply in to accomplish this are EdTech, healthcare, hospitality, financial services, entertainment, AI, and SaaS.
Companies I've consulted with over the years include Philips Oral Healthcare, Eventbrite, AT&T Design Technology, Google Community and Culture, Mozilla, MetaLab, Greater Good Studio, Purpose Project, Seasoned, Cognition Studios, RHR International, frog, DesignMap, Journey, GE Energy, GE Transportation, JP Morgan Chase, Holland America Line, Microsoft, and Samsung.
My most recent book, co-authored with Mary Paynter Sherwin, is Turning People into Teams: Rituals and Routines that Redesign How We Work (Berrett-Koehler, distributed by Penguin Random House). My other books on design include the bestseller Creative Workshop: 80 Challenges to Sharpen Your Design Skills and Success by Design: The Essential Business Reference for Designers.
In past roles, I was an Interaction Design Director at frog, where I co-authored frog’s Collective Action Toolkit. I've also led in-house product design and product management EdTech teams at Lynda.com, LinkedIn Learning, and Designlab Learning. From 2014–2019, I served as a Fellow at frog, advising projects focused on social impact, education, organizational change, and other topics.
Over the past 10 years, I have been an adjunct professor at California College of the Arts, Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design, and Pacific Northwest College of Art. I regularly speak and teach at corporations, nonprofit organizations, and schools worldwide.
I am currently taking on new freelance projects and fractional work opportunities. You can contact me at david (at) askthesherwins.com.