From Alexa’s voice interface to the intricacies of Amazon’s e-commerce platform, designers are integral in crafting innovative, customer-focused solutions. In this blog, we’ll explore what it’s like to work as a designer at Amazon, including team structures, work-from-home policies, the hiring process, and the variety of design roles available. If you’re interested in Amazon jobs, especially in UX or product design, this guide is for you!
What Does Working at Amazon Look Like?
Working at Amazon is an immersive, fast-paced experience rooted in its unique culture. Driven by customer obsession and the company’s "Day 1" mentality, Amazon encourages innovation, continuous learning, and ownership. Employees are empowered to challenge assumptions, think big, and work collaboratively. Leadership principles, such as “Invent and Simplify” and “Deliver Results,” guide every decision, pushing teams to maintain high standards.
At Amazon, you can join up to 31 teams or squads in various business categories, including:
- Alexa
- Amazon Devices
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)
- Operations Technology
- Prime Video
- Amazon Studios
- Kindle
- Consumer Payments
- Amazon Fresh
- Amazon Go
- Advertising
- Amazon Fashion
- Retail Leadership
- Robotics
- Amazon Pharmacy
- Amazon Music
Each category has its own design teams that focus on user experience, product design, and innovation across different platforms. You can collaborate on projects that impact millions of users globally, from cloud services to e-commerce and entertainment. Each team offers a unique environment for designers to apply their creativity and problem-solving skills.
For example, Etienne Fang is a Principal Research Strategist working on Alexa connections and essentials:
At Amazon, teamwork and collaboration are essential. Designers work closely with engineers, product managers, and researchers to deliver user-centered solutions. The emphasis is on rapid iteration and continuous improvement, making adaptability and quick decision-making crucial skills for anyone interested in Amazon jobs and careers. The company offers numerous opportunities to grow, whether through job rotation or participation in innovative projects.
What Does Working in Amazon Design Teams Look Like?
Amazon design teams focus on creating innovative, user-centric experiences for a vast array of customers. Designers at Amazon work on various platforms, including Alexa, Fire TV, Amazon Prime, and AWS. These teams emphasize cross-functional collaboration, integrating inputs from data scientists, product managers, and engineers to create user-friendly and functional designs.
Discover what Brian Barclay's work life, Head of Design and Research at Amazon Large and Local, looks like:
The design approach at Amazon is highly iterative, emphasizing the importance of data-backed decisions. User feedback and research play a critical role in informing the design process, and designers must be comfortable with continuously optimizing their work based on insights. This experimental approach is essential to Amazon’s ethos, with designers being encouraged to prototype, test, and refine their ideas rapidly.
While the work is creative, designers are also expected to deliver results and meet strict deadlines. This requires balancing creativity with practicality, especially when working on high-impact projects like product recommendation systems or improving the usability of AWS interfaces. Designers play a vital role in not just visual design but also in overall customer experience, contributing to both front-end interfaces and backend processes.
Amazon Careers and Work Culture? Honest feedback from a former UX Designer
Every design team, and culture is different, but it is always good to get real-designer's experience on what it's like to work at FAANG companies. I skimmed through r/UXDesign subreddit to find relevant feedback, and found this post from a former UX Designer:
" I worked at Amazon for 3 years. I know there’s a lot of bad press for Amazon’s work culture but my team was pretty good. We were an emerging product team that were growing like crazy. The team was generally very supportive of each other. As every big company, there’s always good teams and bad teams.
As a designer, one thing to note is that Amazon is extremely top down and business centric. You won’t agree with all the decisions from leadership and what I learned a lot is to influence product (managers) to be on my side and drive joint decisions. I know a lot of designers get frustrated about that culture. I remember in a meeting Jeff Bezos simply override all the design work (also eng work) 5 minutes into the meeting because he is convinced his instinct is correct (he is right a lot of the times, but definitely not that time lol) All that said, I sometimes appreciate more of a top down culture than bottom up. My current company is super bottom up and sometimes I just hope the leadership will make up their mind and give a directional decision to get things going.
Another thing to note is Amazon culture does encourage teams to compete against each other, and tease details apart with each other. This often time gives employees a lot of stress since you need to be very prepared for any discussion or presentation.
Also “writing” is a big part of the company. Yes, you need to write as a designer. Amazon meetings do start with reading documents, including design decision meetings. You basically need to write project brief all the time. If you hate writing, you shouldn’t consider Amazon. Amazon did make me very good at write and convey design points in extremely succinct and effective manner, which built great foundations for me as a communicator in my career."
To wrap it up, working at Amazon means working long hours, going to lots of meetings, and feeling the pressure but most share that they produced their best work while being there.
How Are Amazon Design Teams Structured?
Amazon’s design teams are organized into small, agile groups that operate within the company’s broader product teams. Each design team typically focuses on a specific segment, such as Alexa, Amazon Search, or Prime Video, and comprises a mix of UX designers, UI designers, design technologists, and researchers.
Teams at Amazon are structured to foster both autonomy and collaboration. Designers often work in close-knit groups with engineers and product managers, allowing for more direct communication and faster decision-making. This structure ensures that every team has the resources and freedom to innovate, while still aligning with Amazon’s broader goals.
Designers are also encouraged to take ownership of their work from concept to delivery. This level of responsibility requires strong leadership and communication skills, as designers must collaborate with stakeholders from various departments, including marketing, engineering, and product development.
Amazon Jobs Work From Home Policies and Hiring Locations
In a September 2024 update, current Amazon's CEO, Andy Jassy, informed employees that "to address the second issue of being better set up to invent, collaborate, and be connected enough to each other and our culture to deliver the absolute best for customers and the business, we’ve decided that we’re going to return to being in the office the way we were before the onset of COVID."
Amazon operates in various global locations across continents:
- North America: Seattle, New York, San Francisco, Toronto, Vancouver.
- South America: São Paulo.
- Europe: London, Luxembourg, Berlin, Madrid, Milan.
- Asia: Beijing, Tokyo, Bengaluru, Singapore.
- Australia: Sydney.
- Africa: Cape Town.
These cities represent key hubs, where roles in product design, tech, and logistics are abundant. For a full list of locations, visit Amazon Jobs Locations.
Amazon Hiring Process
Amazon’s hiring process for design roles is thorough and competitive, reflecting the company’s high standards. The process begins with an online application where candidates submit their portfolios and resumes. Qualified applicants move forward to a phone interview, which typically assesses technical and behavioral aspects of the candidate’s experience.
For design roles, the interview process involves several stages. Designers often go through multiple rounds of interviews, including a design challenge. This challenge is a critical part of the hiring process, allowing candidates to showcase their creative problem-solving skills and thought processes in real-time. Amazon’s interviewers are not only interested in the final product but also the journey candidates take from ideation to execution.
During final interview rounds, candidates meet with cross-functional team members, including future colleagues, design managers, and senior leaders. These sessions often explore a candidate’s alignment with Amazon’s Leadership Principles, as well as their ability to collaborate effectively across teams. Behavioral questions are common, especially focusing on how candidates have navigated design challenges and handled feedback in the past.
Amazon values designers who are customer-obsessed, inventive, and willing to iterate on their designs based on user research. Once hired, designers are given opportunities to work on impactful projects, often with tight deadlines, requiring a balance of creativity and practical problem-solving skills.
Interviewing for Amazon as a UX Designer: Tips and Prep
To prepare for a UX interview at Amazon, focus on three areas:
- Understand Leadership Principles: These guide all decisions at Amazon, so show how your experience aligns with them.
- Portfolio Review: Present specific projects, emphasizing your design process, challenges, and solutions.
- Design Challenge: Be ready for hands-on tasks where you’ll solve problems and discuss your design thinking in real-time.
Practice articulating your thought process clearly and prepare to work collaboratively.
Check out more tips in this video:
Curious about the hiring process and interview tips of other big tech's design teams? Learn more about:
Product Design Jobs at Amazon
Amazon offers a range of product design jobs that cover various aspects of its expansive business ecosystem. Whether you’re interested in user interface design, interaction design, or UX research, there’s a wide range of design opportunities at Amazon. The roles available span different product categories, including Alexa, Amazon Shopping, AWS, and Prime Video.
Some of the common design roles at Amazon include:
- UX Designer: Focuses on improving the user experience across Amazon’s digital products, from website navigation to mobile app interfaces.
- Design Technologist: Works at the intersection of design and development, building interactive prototypes and designing technical solutions to enhance user interfaces.
- Visual Designer: Responsible for the aesthetics of Amazon’s digital platforms, including website layouts, branding, and visual elements.
- UX Researcher: Plays a critical role in gathering insights from users, conducting studies, and driving design decisions based on data.
Amazon designers work on projects that have a massive global impact. For instance, a UX designer might help optimize the purchase flow on Amazon’s website, while a design technologist might build prototypes for the next iteration of AWS’s user interfaces. No matter the role, designers at Amazon have the opportunity to work on high-visibility, high-impact projects that shape the future of customer interactions. If you would like to stay updated on relevant product design jobs at Amazon, create a job alert through this page.