Derrius Sims — Game Designer
Experience & Skills
Key Skills
DESIGN TOOLS
Unity 3D, UX Pilot AI, GitHub, Jira, Trello, Google Workspace
EXPERIENCE DESIGN
Playtesting, User Feedback Analysis, Interaction Design, Onboarding Design, Usability Evaluation
SYSTEMS DESIGN
Gameplay Systems, Workflow Design, Feedback Systems, Process Improvement, Quality Assurance
COLLABORATION
Cross-Functional Communication, Agile Workflows, Stakeholder Feedback, Team Coordination
Education
AAS Game Design
Austin Community College | Expected 2026
Certifications
Small Business Skills Certificate
City of Austin + UT | 2015
Game Design Projects
Producer — Moonveil
- Improved onboarding and gameplay clarity through tutorial redesigns, playtesting, and usability analysis.
- Coordinated cross-disciplinary teams to support iterative development and feature delivery.
Lead Designer & Lead Programmer — Power & Prophecy
- Designed cooperative systems that encourage communication, coordination, and social interaction between players.
Lead Designer & Lead Programmer — Pocket Smash
- Designed competitive multiplayer experiences focused on accessibility, rapid onboarding, and player engagement.
Professional Experience
Assistant General Manager
Franklin Barbecue | Austin, TX | 2018 – Present
- Lead operations and event execution in one of Austin's busiest hospitality environments.
- Redesigned onboarding and communication systems that improved coordination between front-of-house, back-of-house, and leadership teams.
- Developed an AI-assisted QA system that converts production, scheduling, and performance data into actionable feedback and review insights.
Technical Support Representative
Trusource Labs | Austin, TX | 2016 – 2017
- Analyzed support trends to identify usability challenges and recurring pain points affecting the customer experience.
- Translated recurring customer frustrations and technical issues into actionable feedback and user-focused solutions.
Account & Technical Services Representative
Blizzard Entertainment | Austin, TX | 2012 – 2014
- Helped establish a 'Voice of the Player' initiative that surfaced recurring player frustrations, broken quests, and usability issues to development teams.
- Leveraged support insights during Hearthstone testing to improve payment-system error handling before launch.