I am brought in at moments of transition, and I leave behind systems and people that outlast me.

I partner with leaders who are facing a decision that matters: a company splitting in two, a first new product in years, a technology that changes what customers expect, a program that is not reaching the people it was built for. My work is the research that gets used, the shared picture that lets a team decide, and the system that keeps working after I leave.

I learned the craft as a student at AC4D and practiced it inside HP, LegalZoom and Indeed, most recently shaping research strategy for AI-powered job matching. Now I do it as co-founder of RGLR Collective and as Managing Director of Austin Center for Design, where I also teach. I also coach leaders as a certified Gallup CliftonStrengths coach, and take on research and strategy work of my own.

Maryanne Lee

resume

Each chapter links to that company's story, and from there to the projects.

HP & HPE

Value Designer, then Global IT UX/UI Center of Excellence

HP was splitting into two Fortune 50 companies and IT had to realign for both.

Design thinking, a Center of Excellence, and a five-day sprint across three time zones.

See how design thinking took hold in Global IT

LegalZoom

Design strategy manager, senior service designer, experience strategy director

A company built on one moment, forming a business, with no new offering in four years.

Equip, a service for relationships instead of transactions, then the strategy for the segment behind 80% of revenue.

See how Equip led to ongoing relationships

Indeed

Senior UX Researcher, UX Research Manager, Manager UX

Employer products growing faster than the teams that built them could coordinate, then generative AI.

Shared systems linking research, design and the machine learning behind employer matching.

See the AI work and the systems behind it

RGLR Collective

Founding partner, design and research

Leaders and agencies making high-stakes decisions on guesses or on research nobody used.

Research that gets used, and systems a client team can run alone, for legal access, subscriptions and the public sector.

See the research behind access and trust

AC4D

Director of Operations, then Managing Director and faculty

A one-year program that graduated about 100 designers was changing with its market.

The operating model, the teaching, and the community that point design at problems that matter to society.

See the teaching and the school

career at-a-glance

  1. Owned projectsAt HP, I scoped and led research for my own group, then co-developed the offerings of a Center of Excellence.
  2. Led a teamAt LegalZoom, I assembled the innovation team behind Equip, then grew into leading experience strategy.
  3. Directed a functionAt Indeed, I went from the first researcher on a new team to managing research for the matching platform and acting as UX director for six months.
  4. Run a practice and a schoolAt RGLR and AC4D, I lead the work and the organization that carries it.

how I work

Come in at a transition

A new offering, a new technology, a new team. I come in where the old way stops working and start with the people closest to the problem.

Build the evidence and the shared model

I uncover needs and opportunities directly from customers and prospective users, so teams understand people both on screen and off. Then I connect digital products, customer-facing teams, and behind-the-scenes processes into one picture leaders can argue with, and test ideas before going all in on a solution.

Leave systems and people that last

I build teams, mentor, and bring diverse perspectives together through critique, workshops, and sprints. I work alongside team members so the practices we shape together are ones you own and keep growing.

skills & methods

Where each method was used. Each entry links to the work that shows it.