MINNEAPOLIS, MN • AVAILABLE FOR NEW OPPORTUNITIES

Mike Larson

Senior UX Designer who delivers on time, under budget, and leaves clients asking for more.

Accessibility

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Component Systems

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Design Systems

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Mobile App Design

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Trusted Partner

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Enterprise

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Portals

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Open Source

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Accessibility 〰️ Component Systems 〰️ Design Systems 〰️ Mobile App Design 〰️ Trusted Partner 〰️ Enterprise 〰️ Portals 〰️ Open Source 〰️

The designer behind the work.

EST. MINNEAPOLIS

I don’t just design, I partner.

My work starts where the brief ends. I listen closely, translate vague direction into precise decisions, and show up to every client review ready to iterate in real time.

Promoted from contractor to full-time at Creed Interactive within one week. Almost every project I’ve touched has resulted in an extended engagement or a new contract signed on handoff day.



That’s not luck, it’s how I work.

10+

Projects delivered

3+

Teams simultanesously

↓$

Always under budget

98%

Client extensions

"In moments when I need to push back on a client request, I always bring receipts. And when I agree with their vision, I say it in their language so they know I was actually listening."

TODAY’S SPECIALS

Selected Work

MOBILE APP

01

Moda Wellness

Took spa-wellness wireframes from research stage to shipped iOS MVP: provider profiles, service pages, filterable blog, app icon, loading animation. Came in 8 hours under budget. Delighted stakeholders with real-time iterations in check-in meetings.

"The client signed the extension on handoff day." — Project Manager

WEB DESIGN

02

Delta Dental of Minnesota Foundation

Expanded a single landing page into a full 7-page WordPress site. Built an atomic component library from buttons up, empowering the client to scale independently. Delivered mobile screens as an out-of-scope bonus.

"I don’t know how you did it but you read my mind." — Client

FORM DESIGN

03

DDMN-Smiles@School

Transformed a long, single-page enrollment form into a 7-step guided experience using progressive disclosure and a progress tracker. Completed in 2 weeks, 4 hours under budget, while managing 4 other active projects.

Delivered concurrent with 4 projects across 3 teams

DESIGN + BUILD

04

Interactive Holiday Card

Designed and personally built a Webflow experience with Lottie animations and a custom interactive office map, engineering a GitHub-hosted carousel solution after 5 off-the-shelf tools failed to meet the brief.

End-to-end design + front-end build, solo

THE INGREDIENTS

What I Bring

Design practice

UX Research and Strategy

User interviews, heuristic evaluation, persona creation, information architecture


Design Systems & Atomic Design

Component libraries from button to page template, annotated for developer handoff


Accessibility (WCAG AAA)

Certified via Deque University — colorblind, cognitive load, plain language


Motion & Interaction Design

Lottie animations, micro-interactions, progressive disclosure


Client Facilitation

Real-time iteration, design reviews, stakeholder presentations


Cross-functional Collaboration

Designers, developers, PMs, researchers, clients — simultaneously


Tools

Figma

JIRA

Github

Webflow

Confluence

Slack

Wordpress

Notion

Claude

Adobe CC

Harvest

ChatGPT

UX Program Coach at Prime Digital Academy — mentoring 50+ students in UX fundamentals, accessibility, and research. Board of Directors, UXPA-MN.
Additionally, I am a local resource for networking and job search coaching.

Coaching

Talks given

AI in Design - Internal and client facing
Figma Hygiene — workflow & file organization
Negotiation — advocating for good UX, and being a better team player

Soft skills

  • Strategic Thinking

  • Stakeholder Influence

  • Problem Framing

  • Systems Thinking

  • Facilitation

  • Design Leadership

  • Cross-Functional Alignment

  • Decision-Making Under Ambiguity

  • Mentorship

  • User Advocacy

Contract or Full time

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Minneapolis or Remote

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Available for work

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Senior or Lead Roles

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Contract or Full time 〰️ Minneapolis or Remote 〰️ Available for work 〰️ Senior or Lead Roles 〰️

Let’s make something good!

I'm currently open to senior UX roles — contract, full-time, or anywhere in between.

If you have a project that deserves more than a designer, let's talk.