About
Davon Larson
Product Designer at Google. Founder of Surf Skull. Builder of things that shouldn't work but somehow do.
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 think 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 digital agencies to university IT, from enterprise software at IBM to consumer products at Google. Each stop sharpened a different edge — and made me a little harder to put in a box.
Experience
Product Designer
2021 — Present
Designing cloud and hardware experiences used by millions. Led interaction design for Core Compute, Pixel Buds AI voice interactions, and ML Diagnostics tooling for large-scale AI training.
UX Designer
IBM
2019 — 2021
Led UX across Cloud Pak for Data, Satellite, and Operator View. Designed complex data tables, monitoring dashboards, and config flows that made enterprise software feel human.
UX Designer
NYU Information Technology
2017 — 2019
Hired to plan, design, and help build software across the university. Ran user research, moderated focus groups, and consulted with stakeholders across NYU schools.
Digital Producer & Account Coordinator
Voltage
2015 — 2016
Managed digital production for major consumer brands. Oversaw websites, email, and banner campaigns for Reebok and Adidas. Grew the Reebok copy account by 100%.
Education
MS — Integrated Design & Media
New York University — Tandon School of Engineering
2017 — 2019
Explored the intersection of design, technology, and human behavior. Built interactive installations, learned to code, and figured out that the best ideas live between disciplines.
BS — Communications
Brigham Young University — Idaho
2008 — 2014
Learned storytelling, advertising strategy, and how to communicate complex ideas simply. Also picked up 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
Other
- After Effects
- Copywriting
- Brand Identity
- Spanish
- Learning Mandarin