About Lance

I'm a visionary design leader who transforms product experiences through UX excellence and AI-first innovation. I've built elite teams that deliver measurable impact—driving Adobe Express to 8M user growth through SDK integrations. While setting bold product vision and mentoring talent, I remain immersed in the craft—collaborating across functions, shaping strategy, leading AI-augmented design, and prototyping breakthrough solutions. My recent MIT AI product design certification deepens my ability to create intuitive, impactful experiences that seamlessly blend human needs with technological advancement. Outside of work I’m art photographer and avid surfer.

Design Impact & Results

  • 8M user growth via Express SDK integrations accounting for 50% of product MAU

  • 415% increase of Express plugins through marketplace and contextual design

  • 3M new Express users through Express-Acrobat integrations

Core Design Strengths

  • End-to-End Product Design – Driving UX strategy while contributing to flows, wireframes, and prototypes

  • AI Product Design & AI-Augmented UX – Designing AI products while using AI tools

  • Strategic Collaboration – Aligning with product, engineering, and research

Video Resume

Watch my 4-minute video resume to learn about my career highlights.

Skills

  • Product Design Strategy

  • AI Product Design

  • Product Innovation & Integration

  • Extensibility Platforms

  • Global Market Culturalization

  • AI-Augmented UX Design

  • Team Development & Leadership

  • Cross-Functional Collaboration

  • Business Growth

  • Creative Direction

“Lance challenged the team on how we might use existing tech and create the magical experiences that customers expect from Adobe.”

— Beate Fritsch, Sr Design Manager, Adobe

Entrepreneurial Leader

  • Co-founded award-winning agency recognized with 2 Webby Awards and 8 other industry awards

  • Increased client business by 350% within three years

  • Expanded agency from 2 to 12 team members through effective strategy

Global Design Experience

  • Transformed Adobe's international design by creating an incubator for culturalized plugins

  • Directed R&D for mini apps in Asian markets, launching successfully in LINE App

  • Forged partnerships with Alibaba and Tencent, expanding Adobe's presence in China

MIT AI Product Design Certification

I completed MIT xPRO’s Designing and Building AI Products and Services certification to gain practical, working knowledge of how to design user-centered AI products. The program deepened my understanding of AI technologies, use cases, and responsible design principles to create real-world, value-driven solutions.

I’ve worked with:

Adobe

Visa

Fitbit

Chase

Hitachi

Dentsu

Agency.com

Scient

Adobe XD

Adobe Express

Adidas

Red Bull

ADP

MRM / McCann

Adobe Extensibility

Adobe Acrobat

Webby Winner - All-in-One AI-Powered Creativity App, 2024, For Adobe Express

Webby Winner - Best Nonprofit Website, 2016, For Thatsnotcool.com

Webby Winner - Campaign in Advertising, 2016 For "I am a Witness" campaign and website

W3 Award - Gold: Mobile Apps - Public Service and Activism, 2017, For Respect Effect mobile app

W3 Award - Gold: Mobile Apps - Family and Kids, 2017, For Respect Effect mobile app

W3 Award - Gold: Mobile Apps - Education, 2017, For Respect Effect mobile app

Davey Awards - Silver: Mobile Apps/Sites-Social Gaming, 2017, for Redbull online game

Communicators Awards - Websites, 2016, For Thatsnotcool.com

Japan Marketers Award - Silver: B2B Marketing, 2011, For Yokogawa's Vigilance brand campaign

Good Design Award - Best Global Website, 2008, For Hitachi.com

Awards

What People Are Saying

  • "Lance and his team of talented designers helped us drive new innovations in areas ranging from our Express marketplace of integrations to new embeddable experiences to the in-app developer experience."

    Aubrey Cattell
    VP Product, Adobe Extensibility

  • “Lance's positive attitude towards cross-team partnerships truly resonated with me and will be a reminder to keep breaking silos between teams and proactively seek partnership through user-centered design conversations.”

    Lorenzo Buosi
    Sr Staff Designer, Adobe Express

  • Lance genuinely acts in Adobe's best interest in every project he takes on, and I believe his willingness to work across organizational lines has really been instrumental in getting extensibility to the level of success it current has within the Express team.”

    Sunny Virdi, Principal PM, Adobe Express

  • “As a leader, Lance encourages the team to think outside the box and explore new ideas, and creativity is welcomed. Lance balances creativity with practicality to ensure concepts are imaginative and feasible.”

    Beate Fritsch
    Sr Design Manager, Adobe Acrobat

  • “Lance's strength is collaborating with product at a high level on the strategy, and I love his strong perspectives on where our investment areas should be. He's very open to feedback and new ideas, and overall brings positivity to the culture of the team."

    Risa Shen, Principal PM, Adobe Express

  • “I have full trust in Lance's abilities to lead design teams with empathy, vision, and authenticity. The integration increased Express engagement significantly and provided Acrobat users ways to creatively edit their PDFs.”

    Jenny Woo
    Sr Staff Designer, Adobe Acrobat

  • "During a challenging period, when our team was distributed across five different time zones and the pandemic brought unprecedented obstacles, Lance's exceptional leadership made us feel incredibly close and cohesive as a team."

    Daniel Wagner
    Senior Engineer, Adobe

  • “Lance's grit and leadership under highly ambiguous circumstances is one of his biggest strengths. He has a natural tendency towards mentoring young designers in their early careers and will go out of his way to help them.”

    Julie Ip
    Staff Designer, Adobe Express