# David Townsend > Former VP of Design, Anaplan, Board Member Location: San Francisco Bay Area, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/davidtownsend David Townsend is the former Vice President of Design and UX. He led the global design organization at Anaplan including user-experience and product design, with responsibility for defining and delivering consistent, high-quality experience to Anaplan customers and partners. Prior to Anaplan, David led IBM’s Design for Data and AI. At IBM, he launched and developed four world class design studios across the US, Asia and Europe to design the future of IBM products & human interaction. David and his team won numerous international design awards including the prestigious Red Dot and iF Awards for Best User Experience. In his early career, David led design for major companies in the telecom and automotive industries, including General Motors, Samsung, and Motorola. David earned his BS from Art Center College of Design in Automotive and Industrial Design. He received a full scholarship from Toyota. In his spare time he enjoys painting, skiing, biking and restoring old German cars. He currently lives in the San Francisco Bay area. Creating a minimal, holistic eco-system that encompasses both the digital and physical into one user experience is what drives his passion. ## Work Experience ### Founding Member-Design Leaders Community @ Design Leaders Community Jan 2024 – Present “Design Leaders Community is uniting diverse and passionate individuals to create an exceptional peer-to-peer design and innovation leadership community, catered for top-level leaders. Through open communication, shared knowledge, and collective problem-solving, they drive excellence in innovation and design, with the aim of shaping industries, transforming societies, and creating a better future for all. As a founding member of the Design Leaders Community, I've joined to actively influence and shape the community's evolution.” ### Co-Founder, Chief Designer @ Glissade Design Jan 2023 – Present | San Francisco Bay Area Glissade Design is a product design strategy firm that helps businesses achieve results through innovation and excellence in product development. Great Design is about delivering tangible, measurable results. We have spent our careers building the teams, culture & vision to deliver highly successful products aligned with business goals. Our firm understands the opportunities and challenges in delivering extraordinary experiences, and we’ve formed Glissade Design* to empower businesses to realize their goals. ### VP of Design @ Anaplan Jan 2021 – Jan 2023 | San Francisco - London - York Former VICE PRESIDENT, GLOBAL DESIGN • ANAPLAN • SEPTEMBER 2021 - NOVEMBER 2023 SAN FRANCISCO, AND LONDON • Led global design, including UX/UI, Design Systems, Strategy and Research. Report to CTO and Thoma Bravo private equity board of directors. • Directed a team of 40+ across 3 studios. • Aligning design, Product Management, AI/ML data and engineering to create a seamless user experience. • Created the Anaplan design system known as “Palette Design” • Keynote speaker for Anaplan regarding AI in design. ### Head of Design, Data and AI @ IBM Jan 2014 – Jan 2021 | San Francisco, San Jose, Austin, Stuttgart Chief Designer for Private and Hybrid Cloud Analytics, Big Data, AR/VR, and Machine Learning technology. Now running 4 studios, my primary responsibility is designing IBM Analytics' Private and Hybrid Cloud offering as a holistic user experience. Responsible for creating the IBM SF Design team and rebuilt 3 other studios, recruiting a team of highly motivated designers from the world's best design schools. These studios are now designing the future of IBM product and human-machine interaction. - iF Award - DSX, Best UI/UX Design 2018 - Red Dot Award - winning designer for DSX (Communication Design 2017, Interface and User Experience Design) - Design Leader for IBM Data Science Experience (data science.ibm.com) - Design Executive for Watson Health leading key initiatives at Memorial Sloan Kettering and the Mayo Clinic. - Executive Designer for AR work within the Analytics Portfolio -Keynote speaker regarding AI in Design. Speaking as a subject matter expert in Seoul, Dubai, Johannesburg, San Francisco. - Design Lead for Portfolio Simplification, major rebuilding project for 2018 ### Global Design Director, UX @ General Motors Jan 2013 – Jan 2014 | Warren, Michigan Chief Designer for Global UX and Branded Studios Responsible for Global UI / UX Design. Leading a team of over 150 Designers Globally. Responsible for Global Branded Components for all of GM’s interiors. These include all touch points: Steering Wheels, Center Console, Dash / IP, HUD, all interior electronics. Brought the number of global interfaces down from 27 to 3. Focus on usability and making the UX Intuitive and self-starting. ### Head of Design/Chief Designer for US @ Samsung Electronics America Jan 2009 – Jan 2013 | Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea Samsung STA Chief Designer for Samsung Mobile Responsible for NA Design, including all Smartphone’s / Handsets, Tablets, UI / UX, Accessories, Packaging, CMF, Branding, User Testing, Outside Agencies. Managed the design / UI / UX / branding / launch of all Galaxy S Smartphone’s (S1, S2, S3, S4 and Galaxy Tabs 1, 2, 3. (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile) Lead UI / UX designer for HomeSync. A home media hub that controls / shares all of your multimedia content from your phone. Includes Wi-Fi, NFC, and 1TB of storage along with a home security system. Maintain UI / UX consistency across all of the platforms including web and social networks. Bringing consistency across Samsung’s in house OS “Touch Wiz” built on top of the Android OS. Key spokesperson for all new product introductions to Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Regional Carriers. Responsible for product launches during the CES, CTIA, MWC conferences to C level customers. ### Director of Global Design @ Research In Motion Jan 2007 – Jan 2009 | Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Responsible for entire global portfolio including all Product Design: Handsets, UI/UX, Branding, Accessories, CMF, Graphics, Model Making, Packaging and outside design agencies. Built the ID department from 7 to 25 employees, developed future design languages and wrote the BlackBerry “DNA” document which includes all product design, branding/graphic guidelines. Product launches include Storm 2, Bold 1-2, Curve 2-3, Tour, Torch, Pearl & Oxford. ### Director of Design @ Motorola Jan 2000 – Jan 2007 | Chicago, Illinois, United States MOTOROLA, PCS (Consumer Design Organization) Director of Design – CTO Office, Special Programs, License Products. Libertyville, IL • Responsible for bringing CTO concepts and ideas into portfolio for production. • Led team for all new NFL technologies included next gen. coaches headsets and new Communications Centers for the sidelines. Responsible for global design of all of Motorola’s accessories. • Key Senior Staff member of MobileMe (accessories), instrumental in helping to grow unit from $190M to over $1.2B in revenue. • Created common look and feel to tie our global product portfolio together. • Started new “Wearables Group Technology” within Motorola. Working with partners such as Burton Snowboards, MOMO, Oakley, Giro, Levis, creating new lines of smart clothing, jackets, motorcycle helmets, etc. Products are launched and on the market ## Education ### Bachelor of Science in Transportation Design ArtCenter College of Design ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-townsend-800855 --- Source: https://flows.cv/davidtownsend JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/davidtownsend/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-07