I’m Mike Perrone, a London-based product designer with a focus is on platform design, user engagement, and behavioral data.

Most recently I was Head of Product Design at Harvest, where I led an autonomous agile team of experienced engineers, designers, and data scientists using OKRs to deliver a financial services product to over 14,000 of the world’s top investment firms. Our clients include, but are not limited to, BlackRock, Morgan Stanley, William Blair, Fidelity, KKR, AllianceBernstein, and Northern Trust. As Co-Founder, I’ve helped close three rounds of fundraising to scale the business and grow our team.

Prior to Harvest, I served as Design Director at Oprah.com, a lifestyle site for helping individuals live their best lives. I led a team of six designers, where we spent our days taking designs from concept through validation, shipping, measurement, and iteration. Oprah.com reached an average of 35MM unique visitors per month. My team launched Oprah’s first iPhone application, offering millions of fans a new way to engage and connect with familiar content on their devices. In support of the final 25th season of The Oprah Winfrey Show, we took on the gargantuan task of redesigning Oprah.com. It was a fitting accomplishment as the show bid adieu.

My first formative in-house role was with Pepsi where I cut my teeth as their first full-time web designer fresh out of college. I spent time as a lone wolf designing and developing web experiences for Mountain Dew, Mug Root Beer, All Sport, and Orange Slice. I learned the importance of branding, marketing and product strategy from some of the best in the business.

My passion to design innovative products and experiences has always extended beyond my day-to-day functions, which is why I’ve kept a personal studio, Pingala, since 2000. Maintaining a studio has allowed me the freedom to challenge myself with all types of projects. One of my favorites includes co-founding the record label Tall Corn Music which works directly with artists to produce music of which only they approve. Oyez Perez is another labor of love born from my studio where I spend time creating material products with historical references to Chicago and other childhood memories. Of course, some assignments are more client-focused like Reciprocal where I designed and shipped a bespoke mobile application for private club members on the move. I think of Pingala as a learning annex to sharpen my skills and grow my body of work outside of any boundaries – in other words, vital to my happiness.

While my formal training is in Computer Science from Georgetown University, design has been with me since the first day my mother took me to art class when I was seven years old. (I can still smell the pastels in Miss Fedell’s studio.) Today, I have the pleasure of sitting at the intersection of design and technology, challenging teams to create products that delight millions of users and shape the future for generations to come.

Get in contact with me.