# Cory Thorpe > AI / ML Design @ DigitalOcean Location: Greater Seattle Area, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/cory I am experienced at designing for technical products from inception through implementation. Most recently I designed the VMware Tanzu Developer Tools extension, bringing it to market from a proof of concept to release in 18 months for 3 separate development environments. I completed 25 usability sessions to validate my designs with users, collaborating with stakeholders to ensure user feedback directly impacted the product. I have received numerous commendations about my deep understanding of complex domains, and my collaborative approach to work. My experiences with IBM in enterprise storage management, and with VMware creating developer experiences for the Tanzu Application Kubernetes Platform, have honed my ability to create intuitive user flows for complex and difficult processes. ## Work Experience ### Senior Product Designer @ DigitalOcean Jan 2025 – Present GenAI / ML https://www.digitalocean.com/products/ai-ml ### Senior Product Designer @ Tekmetric Jan 2024 – Jan 2025 Designed the Tekmetric Payments experience, increasing attach rate by 5% contributing to overall revenue growth of 50% in the business segment. Designed the Tekmetric Payments Capital experience, enabling independent auto repair shops streamlined access to capital, contributing to the above significant 50% growth in the business segment. ### Staff Product Designer @ Broadcom Jan 2023 – Jan 2024 | Greater Seattle Area - Transitioned into role during acquisition, subsequently promoted to Lead Design for Tanzu Application Platform (TAP) Developer Portal, leveraging Backstage. - Led design efforts across 9 teams and 5 designers maintaining the Tanzu Developer Portal. - Co-created the TAP Design System and contributed to the initial Clarity for Backstage design system. ### Senior Product Designer @ VMware Jan 2021 – Jan 2023 | Greater Seattle Area - Led the design of Tanzu Application Platform (TAP) Developer Tools Extensions from 0 to 1. - Orchestrated the successful launch of Developer Tools extensions for 3 Integrated Development Environments (IDEs), validating designs through over 25 usability sessions with developers. - Conducted comprehensive quality assurance on more than 100 engineering tickets to ensure alignment with design specifications, proactively addressing 14 critical bugs to uphold product integrity. - Acquired proficiency in deploying and managing Kubernetes clusters. - Identified operational inefficiencies and established a Windows VM equipped with all necessary dependencies, regularly utilized by 8+ developers. (Note: VMware was acquired by Broadcom in November 2023.) ### Lead User Experience Designer @ IBM Jan 2019 – Jan 2021 | Greater Boston Area Led Design for IBM Storage Insights. ### User Experience Designer @ IBM Jan 2017 – Jan 2019 | Greater Boston Area Designed for IBM Storage Insights. ### User Experience Designer @ IBM Jan 2016 – Jan 2017 | San Jose, CA Designed for IBM XIV, IBM Spectrum Control, IBM Spectrum Scale. ### Associate User Experience Designer @ IBM Jan 2013 – Jan 2016 | San Diego, CA Designed for IBM DS8000, IBM TS4500, IBM XIV. ### Associate User Experience Designer @ IBM Jan 2013 – Jan 2013 | Tucson, AZ Designed for IBM DS8000. ### Retail & Technical Associate @ Michael Collins Fine Jewelers Jan 2004 – Jan 2013 | San Diego, California, United States ### Digital Engineering Intern @ Scripps Networks Interactive Inc. Jan 2012 – Jan 2012 | Knoxville, TN Front end engineering using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, etc. ### Technical Associate @ The Office Games Jan 2006 – Jan 2010 | San Diego, CA ## Education ### Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Cognitive Science: Human-Computer Interaction UC San Diego ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/corythorpe - Website: https://corythorpe.com --- Source: https://flows.cv/cory JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/cory/resume.json Last updated: 2026-02-23