Staff Product Designer

About the role

You will own the end-to-end user experience for key features inside the Duolingo language app, shaping everything from interaction flows to subtle animations that make learning feel playful. You will take a leadership role on the product design team, acting as a key creative partner alongside engineers and product managers across nearly every initiative. Your work will bring purpose, feeling, and delight to how half a billion learners around the world engage with education. You will sweat the details to ensure the brand feels fun, friendly, and distinct across every touchpoint. You will partner closely with researchers, writers, and animators to expand the Duolingo design language in unexpected and delightful ways. You will help define both long-term product strategy and short-term execution tactics, ensuring design decisions directly move the business forward. You will champion craft and creativity, raising the bar for excellence while staying curious about new ways to make learning feel like play.

Key facts

What you'll do

Define and own the user experience across major features within the Duolingo language app, from onboarding to advanced lessons.

Take a leadership role on the product design team, setting direction and making key decisions that influence product outcomes.

Collaborate with designers and artists to build upon and expand the Duolingo design language in consistent and delightful ways.

Partner with engineers and product managers to define both long-term product strategy and short-term tactics for our products.

Conduct user research and synthesize findings into clear design insights that guide product decisions.

Develop interaction flows, prototypes, and high-fidelity mockups that balance user needs with business goals.

Work cross-functionally to align design solutions with brand, marketing, and engineering constraints.

Translate complex requirements into simple, intuitive experiences that feel fun and approachable for learners of all ages.

Advocate for design quality and craft, ensuring details are polished and consistent across web and mobile platforms.

Help create design systems and patterns that scale efficiently as the product and organization grow.

Participate in critiques and design reviews to iterate quickly and improve solutions based on feedback.

Explore opportunities to introduce unexpected quirk and fun into the learning experience without compromising clarity.

Contribute to the broader design culture at Duolingo by sharing knowledge and mentoring junior designers.

Drive design decisions with data and user empathy, while maintaining a high bar for visual and interaction quality.

Requirements

Must be eligible to work in the United States without sponsorship now or at the time of hire.

Must have at least 5 years of experience in product design, interaction design, or a closely related field.

Must have a strong portfolio that demonstrates your process from research through execution.

Must be comfortable working in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment where priorities can shift quickly.

Must be able to communicate clearly and persuasively with both design peers and non-design stakeholders.

Must have experience collaborating with engineering teams and understanding technical constraints.

Must be proficient with design tools such as Figma, Sketch, or similar industry-standard tools.

Must be willing to iterate based on feedback and data, and to challenge your own assumptions during the design process.

Nice to have

Previous experience in education, language learning, or consumer products is preferred.

Experience contributing to design systems and component libraries.

Familiarity with animation tools and principles is a plus.

Background in data-informed design and A/B testing is encouraged.

Practical notes

This role is based in New York, NY and requires attendance in the office for in-person collaboration.

Work hours are typically full-time, aligned with standard Duolingo operating hours.

Travel is not required for this role.

This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship at this time.

Candidates must be able to start within the timeframe specified in the hiring communication.