I inspire. I build. I want to do that at Figma.

300+
Hours educating design students
Speaker, facilitator & educator
165%
Figma adoption growth in 5 months
5 community awards
Filed AI patent

I build, I teach, and I create the resources that make complex things stick. Seven years at IBM, but most of what you'll see here? Not in my job description. Side projects, every one of them, gaps I spotted and couldn't leave alone.

Six years guest lecturing, running AI enablement sessions for clients, mentoring over 12 designers, contributing guidance and components back to an open-source system. The thread through all of it is the same: helping people get more out of design. That's what a Designer Advocate does. I want to do it at Figma.

Project preview for Figma kit case study

I built IBM's Figma foundation — and learned what makes thousands of designers actually adopt it.

30+ components, variable-token architectures mapped directly to codebases, and a dedicated program driving 165% adoption growth.
Laura presenting at IBM Design Festival — available to IBM's 3,000+ strong design community.

Speaking, teaching, advocating — because communities grow when practitioners share.

Six years guest lecturing, workshops in Bangalore, client sessions for Nationwide, and talks across IBM — advocacy has always been part of how I work.
Project preview for developer handoff case study

Good design dies in handoff. I studied 100+ devs to find out why — then shared what I found.

Research across 100+ developers that validated the critical need for Figma Dev Mode and Code Connect — turned into IBM-wide guidance and a Design Festival talk.
Project preview for product design work case study

I was the first designer in my org to ship AI-assisted code. Then I showed everyone else how.

Seven years shipping enterprise software as the sole designer — from concept to GA — across five products, with AI-assisted code contributions merged directly into production.
Project preview for community contributions case study

I found gaps in an open-source design system. Then I fixed them.

Contributing patterns, guidance and components back to an open-source design system — and building a gallery to make good design visible across thousands of designers.
What people say
"Your design presentations truly set the standard for excellence. I've used your work as an example many times for what I want our team to strive for. Your thought leadership and clarity make a real difference."
Toby Hunter
UX Design Lead, IBM Event Automation December 2025
"Your ability to share key messages encourages active buy-in and more meaningful participation from both internal and external stakeholders. You do well at tailoring communication to your audience, offering relevant details and addressing concerns proactively."
Ramkumar Ramalingam
Chief Architect, Connectors & AI, IBM Integration November 2025
"It reframed code contributions as a natural extension of design work rather than something 'outside' their role — which felt very empowering."
Jacopo Villanacci
UX Researcher, IBM webMethods May 2026
"Laura's storytelling was highly engaging. Loved Laura's enthusiastic responses to each contributor's playback — it made it a pleasure to contribute and share ideas."
Andy Milsom
UX Design Lead, IBM Application Runtimes April 2026