Associate Experience Designer

About the role

At AREA 17, we believe we can help the world be more open, resilient, and optimistic. We work with clients we trust and admire across various industries, including Saint Laurent, OpenAI, the International Energy Agency, Foundation Louis Vuitton, and The New York Times. We build long-term partnerships by delivering value through brand, experience, and technology. AREA 17 is partnered with Craft on the launch of the 2026 Cohort, a structured entry point designed to grow and nurture junior talent into the leaders of tomorrow.

You'll work in small, autonomous teams alongside senior strategists and designers, learning by doing rather than sitting on the sidelines with colleagues at the same stage of their careers. You'll turn strategy into designed experiences, taking user research and product direction and shaping them into interaction patterns, flows, and prototypes across the user journey. You'll design new patterns that balance usability with strategic intent, contribute to consistent and accessible behaviours, and support research sessions under direction: note-taking, validating concepts through sketches and prototypes.

Responsibilities

You'll work under strategists, UX architects, and designers, but in a small, autonomous team where you're expected to spot what needs to be done and move it forward. The studio is structured around strategy-led thinking, and this role sits in the middle ground between disciplines - the person who brings strategic perspective to a designer's work, and visual thinking to a strategist's.

Requirements

• You're early-career but past the basics, design-leaning by background, working in UX, product, or interaction design, or building a portfolio through internships and self-directed work.
• You know Figma, understand usability and accessibility, and can show the thinking behind your work, not just the screens.
• Makers thrive in this environment. People who've built or shipped something independently have excelled at AREA 17.

Benefits

• $60,000 - $75,000
• Hybrid working
• Early October start date
• Fully paid medical, dental, and vision for employees and families
• 401(k) with company match
• HSA with annual employer contribution
• Employer-paid life insurance