Davon Larson — Product Designer

Not Just a Designer

I'm a product designer, but I've never been comfortable with just that title. I'm also the founder of Surf Skull, a surf helmet company I pitched on Shark Tank and got a deal with Daniel Lubetzky. I build apps. I build websites. I've built physical products from raw materials and shipped them to customers around the world.

I believe the best designers don't just design — they build. Understanding how something is made, from the code to the manufacturing process, fundamentally changes how you think about the user experience. When you know the constraints intimately, you design better solutions.

My career has taken me from enterprise software at IBM to consumer products at Google, from pitching investors on national television to hand-packing Kickstarter orders in my garage. Each experience has made me a more complete designer — and a more dangerous founder.

The Voyage So Far

Product Designer

4+ years

Google · 2021 — Present

Designing search and cloud experiences for billions of users. Leading interaction design for mobile search, running design sprints with cross-functional teams, and building prototypes that ship at Google scale.

Founder & Product Designer

3+ years

Surf Skull · 2022 — Present

Built a surf helmet company from scratch — product design, industrial design, brand identity, e-commerce, 3D modeling, patent filing, manufacturing, and a Shark Tank deal with Daniel Lubetzky. Designed and built thesurfskull.com. Learned Mandarin for factory communication.

UX Designer

2 years

IBM · 2019 — 2021

Contributed to IBM's Carbon Design System, developing patterns for complex data tables, dashboards, and real-time monitoring interfaces. Made enterprise software feel human without sacrificing power.

Volunteer Teacher

1.5 years

Tech Kids Unlimited · 2017 — 2019

Taught design and technology to kids with learning disabilities. One of the most rewarding things I've done.

Education

Master of Science

2 years

New York University — Tandon School of Engineering · 2017 — 2019

Integrated Design & Media. Explored the intersection of design, technology, and human behavior. Built interactive installations, learned to code, and discovered that the best ideas live between disciplines.

Bachelor of Science

6 years

Brigham Young University — Idaho · 2008 — 2014

Communications. Learned storytelling, advertising strategy, copywriting, and how to communicate complex ideas simply. Also learned Spanish along the way.

What I Build With

Design: Figma, Prototyping, Design Systems, User Research, Interaction Design, Information Architecture

Code: React, TypeScript, Next.js, HTML/CSS, Redux, Node.js

Build: 3D Modeling, 3D Printing, Industrial Design, Patent Filing, Manufacturing, Kickstarter

Other: After Effects, Copywriting, Brand Identity, Spanish (working proficiency), Mandarin (factory proficiency)