Years in UX
Years in Leadership
Largest Team Built
Testimonials
Dan Sloat is so many things to so many people, but most everyone would honestly say their lives are better for knowing him.
On a company level, Dan Sloat creates avenues for people to connect, ideate and collaborate. At Fresenius, Dan broke down a culture of siloed departments by fostering cross-organizational networks. He initiated affinity groups and a yearly summit to bring employees together around subjects like innovation and design thinking. Under his guidance, departments started sharing information, cross-pollinating research and working together more closely on shared projects. He led initiatives to have a single centralized UX style-guide, a common repository for interdepartmental research, and introduce various tools and products designed to improve the daily lives of patients and clinicians.
On a departmental level, Dan is a manager who leads as a mentor, luminary and role model. At Fresenius he thoughtfully hired teams of designers, researchers and developers for their complimentary skills and personalities, and infused his department with a culture of cross-pollination, empathy and collaboration. Dan is a quiet presence who demands respect and attention from any audience. He has the ability to see the solutions no one else sees, and bring everyone into his orbit with humility and generosity. He is a person who makes his staff into better employees and better people.
On a personal level, working for Dan this past 9 years has been an enormous honor. He has challenged me to excel in ways I never thought I could, and has encouraged me to identify where my true passions lie and pursue them, even if doing so ran counter to his departmental goals. Dan’s selflessness, encouragement and desire for others to grow have helped me to overcome huge personal hurdles, and have inspired me to work toward positive change for others.
Dan Sloat is a truly unique, brilliant and wonderful person. He embodies authenticity, integrity, grit and empathy, and inspires it in others. What you see is often just the tip of the iceberg, in terms of his brilliant interconnected plans to improve whatever situation he finds himself in. I cannot recommend him highly enough to any company that can offer him the ability to spread his wings and cultivate true and lasting positive change in all that he touches.
Dan consistently provides innovative, high quality and customer-centric design solutions. Furthermore, he’s a team player as well and excellent results-oriented leader. He’s worked with me as a UX consultant, design architect and software engineer and I can highly recommend him as a “must have” resource based on personal and professional experience.
Dan is the best UX person I know at getting UX visibility in large organizations. He finds opportunities to comment or present in areas where it makes the most impact. He has excellent project management skills, and knows what it takes to make sure that research and design is done right. He is a practical designer; he is good at innovating within the technical and project restraints available. We had a chance to work together on a redesign and he was a great partner. He is open to new ideas yet provides the feedback and rigor you would want from a design partner. I recommend him highly in any software development context.
I consider myself blessed to have the opportunity to work with Dan. He is one of the most creative human being! He possesses a remarkable ability to approach challenges not as obstacles but as canvases for creativity. In his presence, problems cease to exist; they are instead transformed into a myriad of ideas, solutions, and opportunities waiting to be explored. Dan’s capacity to envision novel perspectives and craft inventive solutions is truly unparalleled.
I have had the privilege of working under Dan’s leadership during our time at Fresenius Medical Care North America, and I can unequivocally attest to his exceptional qualities as a leader.
Dan is an outstanding leader who consistently demonstrates a remarkable vision for guiding our department. His ability to see the bigger picture and chart a clear path forward is truly impressive. Under his guidance, our department flourished.
One of Dan’s standout attributes is his keen eye for user experience. He not only values the importance of a seamless user experience but also has an innate talent for assembling a team of individuals who are not only highly skilled but also share his passion for delivering excellence. His hiring choices have consistently proven to be the right ones, resulting in outstanding project outcomes.
However, what truly sets Dan apart is his unparalleled empathy, which he seamlessly combines with his leadership prowess. His genuine care for the well-being and development of his team members fosters an environment of trust and collaboration. It’s a rarity to find a leader who combines such empathy with excellence in leadership.
Under Dan’s guidance, our department, known as the Department of User Experience (DUX), underwent a remarkable transformation. From a modest six-person team with limited visibility within the organization, Dan led us to become a team of over thirty, becoming pioneers in the user experience space. Today, our work touches the lives of millions of users of Fresenius products and services, making a tangible difference.
Dan’s leadership has been instrumental in this journey, and I have no doubt that his visionary leadership, commitment to user experience, and unmatched empathy will continue to bring success to any endeavor he undertakes.
It is with great pleasure that I wholeheartedly recommend Dan for any leadership position, as I am confident that he will excel and make a profound impact, just as he did during our time at FMCNA.
Dan and I have collaborated on several design projects where he brings a wealth of knowledge and experience of design principles, cognitive psychology and graphic arts skills to all aspects of each project. Dan’s ability to communicate and sell his ideas has advanced several needed projects that would not have gotten off the ground. He is highly creative, tireless and I wouldn’t hesitate to work with him again.
Dan is someone who never fails to amaze me with his ability to think creatively and solve problems.
I’ve seen him navigate some incredibly challenging projects where he figures out not only how to solve the problem at hand but do so in a way that only Dan would’ve imagined.
He’s the most creative person I’ve ever worked with.
Beyond his abilities in the design and solution space, Dan brings true leadership skills to the table that don’t feel like traditional leadership skills.
He creates an incredible atmosphere when leading groups and individuals while showing care, empathy and big vision. The environment working on Dan’s teams feels more like a family than a work group.
It’s been an exciting and rewarding experience working with Dan and I’m looking forward to next time.
I wholeheartedly recommend Dan, whom I had the privilege of working with at Fresenius Medical Care.
Dan’s leadership is marked by empathy, authenticity, creativity, and innovation. He encourages fresh thinking and is a true advocate of UX; he found ways to collaborate and champion UX that optimized resource sharing across departments and even international borders of the company.
What sets Dan apart is his genuine care and empathy for his teammates and employees. He always took the time to understand our needs, and created a supportive and nurturing work environment. Under Dan’s guidance, our team was a balanced mix of unique professionals who thrived together. He’s a natural at bringing diverse talents and personalities into a harmonious and high-performing team, and his kindness and empathy had a profound impact on my professional life.
In short, Dan is hands down the best manager I’ve ever had. His authentic leadership, dedication to our growth, and commitment to innovation make him an outstanding leader. If the chance came up, I’d work with Dan again in a heartbeat. He’s an invaluable asset to any organization, and I can’t recommend him enough.
I heartily endorse Dan to anyone looking for a design leader. He is creative, flexible, innovative and a joy to work with. It was my great pleasure to work with him for 5 years. During that time I came to trust his instincts, experience, and talent to help with research and design related topics.
I had the pleasure of collaborating with Dan for a two year period, where he excelled in an area that many other were not so successful; enlightening Sr. Leadership regarding the true importance of usability and user experience, which had been a struggle. His direct efforts led to the creation of a usability design group, that he successfully led.
Dan also became the catalyst for many design staff to attend various industry design and usability symposiums and classes, as well as cross functional collaborative events surrounding “the corporate branding” of software Additionally, Dan became a valued member, frequent speaker, and recognized expert for the GE Design Center of Excellence.
I recommend Dan for his work ethic, entrepreneurial spirit, and true desire to better healthcare.