Overall, design is not highly regarded at Amazon. - User Experience Designer Amazon Employee Review

1.0
Jun 7, 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Amazon offers competitive compensation, especially as the stock price is going up. They're always exploring new areas to grow in and show little to no fear in trying out new business directions. The Seattle area is growing more lively with all the development that is happening from Amazon expanding. (However it is also raising housing prices, which is only good if you bought property years ago.) Because product and engineering have a long history at Amazon, working in those disciplines have their own unique Amazon cultural quirks that have succeeded in driving the company to where it is now.

Cons

Besides two teams (digital devices group and HCD), design is in an overall bad situation at Amazon. The design standards and processes at the company-level are really, really far behind the other big tech companies. If you research, you'll find that despite attracting designers with nice compensation packages and holding design fairs to demonstrate how parts of Amazon are doing design well, very few designers who have worked at companies with good design standards stay at Amazon for longer than about a year. Only a handful of teams do design well amongst the hundreds of teams Amazon has and those are the ones that get paraded at design fairs for outsiders to see. Because of this, most designers that have stayed longer have set the bar very low. Engineering and product teams rarely hire good design leaders so they don't get understand how design can be integrated into product and development practices properly. Designers from other companies in the area whose design bar have never been very high (Expedia, Zillow, Smartsheet, Concur, RealNetworks, to name a few) are the ones who stick around and they're not setting a good example for how to execute on good design. If you care about good quality design, you'll be disappointed by how low the bar is.

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5.0
Jul 26, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

A great company to work for.

Cons

There are no significant drawbacks to working at this company.

5.0
Jan 10, 2016
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Really smart people, a lot of opportunity for growth, always encouraged to be innovative, think big, and create something new. Competitive salary and benefits with other major tech companies. 100% self motivating work environment. No dress code and 4 legged friends are welcome.

Cons

You have to be self motivated. NO ONE will hold your hand and tell you that you're doing a great job. If you need constant affirmations from management, this company isn't for you.

3159
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