[ Yours truly ]

System-thinker, Storyteller, Connector.

My mission is to foster a more fair, efficient, & inspiring world for the underdogs through design, technology, & leadership.

[ tl;dr ]

I'm Lawrence Humphrey, the Head of Product Design & Founder at Pearl with 10+ years of experience in design and 9+ years in AI. Not a fan of labels; big fan of making good stuff with good people.

In addition to the companies below, I've had the honor to work with global clients, including American Express, Bank of America, DHL, Mural, Mayo Clinic, Vodafone, Royal Bank of Scotland, Watson Foundation, Dream Con, and more.

My work has been featured in the likes of Fast Company, The New York Times, AP News, Fortune, NPR, Spectrum News, Axios, Business Insider, and more.

[ How to read my story ]

Design. Engineering. Consulting. Founder. What ties all of these together is that I love solving problems with real human impact. Ideally, I get to learn new things, and collaborate with many parties in the process. I'm not dogmatic about tools or approaches.

[ what i do ]

Design Craft

Wireframing & Prototyping
(Sketches, Figma Code)
User Research & Analysis (Qual & Quant)
Using & Extending Design Systems
End-to-End Journey Mapping

Technical & Product

Artificial Intelligence, ML, LLM, Generative AI, AI Agents, RAG Methods
Product Development Lifecycle
Web & Software Apps
User Success Metrics (KPIs)

Collaborate & Lead

Cross-Functional Collaboration
(Product, Engineering, Research, etc.)
Mentorship & Leadership
Presentations (Keynote)
Facilitation & Idea Generation
[ Opportunity? ]

Let's Jam.

I'm currently open to work and speaking engagements. If this resonates with you, I'd love to meet you!  

Connect on LinkedIn
[ experience ]

Pearl

2022-Present
Head of Product Design, Founder

I led the 0-1 product end-to-end, from user discovery, concepting, prototyping, and delivery, turning customer insights into a live platform.

IBM

2017 - 2022
Design Lead & Transformation Consultant

I partnered with senior executive leaders to define strategic priorities and drive alignment across leadership teams.

Senior Designer

I worked cross-functionally (consulting, product, research) to define best practices for AI design and helped accelerate AI adoption across IBM’s enterprise.

Tech Can [Do] Better

2020 - 2022
Co-founder, Executive Director

I led the formation of the organization, built the team, and aligned them around the topmost-level goals.

Tradeblock

2019 - 2020
Data & AI Engineer

Tradeblock is a sneaker marketplace for trades. I designed and built the platform’s data infrastructure, enabling insights and automation. My role focused on optimizing data models, pipelines, and analytics.

IBM

2016
Software Design Intern

Internship focused on design thinking. Strong emphasis on radical collaboration, working very closely with other front-end developers, as well as user researchers, visual designers, and user experience designers.

Qualcomm

2015
Software Engineer Intern

Designed and developed an Android application, including UI/UX decisions, UML diagrams, and Java server programming within Qualcomm's Research Division.

University of Illinois
Urbana-Champaign

Bachelor of Science, Computer Science

Courses include: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Algorithms, Data Structures, Data Visualization, Probability Theory, and Linear Algebra.

[ Recognition ]

Design Leadership Initiative

2024

The Design Leadership Initiative is a three year program that emerged from conversations with diverse design leaders in business, social design and education, about the immense changes that have occurred in their work over the last several years. Organized by the Watson Foundation, and hosted by Stanford University, I was among 18 design leaders selected.

24 Startups to Watch in 2024

2024

Identified and featured in Austin Inno's 24 Startups to Watch in 2024

(US 11657141B2) Providing an indication of user-tailored password strength

2023

Patent issued with co-author, Hyun Seo.

DivInc Startup Accelerator

2022

One of seven companies admitted into DivInc’s startup accelerator.

Master of Fine Arts

(2011 - 2013)
University of Arts and Design

Bachelor of Arts

(2007 - 2011)
Institute of Creative Arts
[ Nice words ]
StarStarStarStarStar

"As a long-time design and product leader, I’ve worked with many talented people, but Lawrence stands out—not just for his rare ability to seamlessly blend design, engineering, and business, but for his relentless curiosity, resilience, and ability to bring clarity to ambiguity."

Laura Klein
UX and Product Lead, Formerly Indeed
StarStarStarStarStar

"Beyond his technical and design acumen, Lawrence is a connector at heart. Whether facilitating cross-disciplinary discussions or championing new ideas, he consistently amplifies the effectiveness of his teams. His passion, adaptability, and leadership make him a force for innovation."

Doug Powell
Executive Designer & VP of Design, Formerly IBM & Expedia
StarStarStarStarStar

"Over the three years we worked together on IBM Design for AI, Lawrence became the team’s bridge to understanding the technology and tying it to design and strategy. His ability to thrive in ambiguity, take initiative, and be a self-starter made him invaluable to our team."

Adam Cutler
Distinguished Designer, AI @ IBM
StarStarStarStarStar

"Lawrence has the rare ability to take complex, abstract challenges and distill them into beautifully intuitive experiences. But beyond his talent, he’s just an incredible person to collaborate with—thoughtful, generous, and constantly pushing the work (and everyone around him) to be better."

Alisha Padolsky
UX Design Lead @ IBM
StarStarStarStarStar

"Of the people I have worked with in my career, few have been as curious, ambitious, and strategically-minded as Lawrence... The best testimonial that I could give is that I would hire Lawrence if I could—I already have once! He is technical, strategic, and has proficiency across ALL of the design disciplines."

Kevin Paolozzi
Principal, Sales Strategy @ IBM
StarStarStarStarStar

"I admire his drive, candidness, and dedication to others – all aligned to a great sense of individual purpose and perspective. For these reasons among others, I actively look for opportunities to work with him. He quickly indoctrinates his team and clients with a fail-fast, learn-fast mindset – encouraging bold thinking and risk taking, positioning himself as a leader and driving significant change on high impact projects."

Hayley Foster
Global Principal @ IBM
[FAQs]

Frequently Asked Questions

How much do you charge?

My current MLE (Minimum Level of Engagement) is $5,000. Most of my projects are priced between $10,000 to $20,000.

Why would I work with you instead of a design subscription agency?

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What do I need to give you to get started?

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Do you charge for additional revisions?

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Can you work with wireframes or our existing designs?

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What happens after the design is ready & I approve it?

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I have an agency. Can I outsource work to you?

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Do you issue refunds?

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Get in Touch

Feel free to reach out if you'd like to discuss a project, collaboration, or just want to connect.