Editor’s Note: Product Designers are key members of Palantir product teams. This blog post features a banner by Product Designer Sarah, a self-reflection by Product Designer Phoebe on navigating her early career, and a Q&A with design colleagues.
Insights from Palantir Product Design
Phoebe, Product Designer
I’m still figuring out what kind of designer I want to be. The toughest part of navigating my early career has been the pressure to define that identity. When searching for my first job out of college, it felt overwhelming to sort through the paths available to me and narrow down the options. I thought a lot about which problem spaces interested me the most, which design specialties I was passionate about, and what type of company structure would best support my growth. While those details were still unclear, I was sure that finding an environment that would allow me to explore my interests and encourage experimentation was crucial.
When I joined Palantir last summer, one of the first things I noticed was that everyone shared the same “Product Designer” title. Unlike traditional company structures, there are no distinctions based on specialties or seniority. I’ve come to realize how rare and exciting this opportunity is for an early-career designer. Being exposed to all dimensions of design and independently managing end-to-end design processes allows me to refine my existing skills while simultaneously discovering new ones. I’ve found it increasingly easier to answer questions about what motivates me by validating them through my own experiences.
If you were to ask, I’d say that the most important skill I’ve developed is confidence in my design decisions. This kind of self-assurance is almost inevitable given the fast pace of work and the high level of individual responsibility within the product teams. I’ve learned to trust my instincts and make decisions with conviction as I tackle increasingly challenging projects. My opinions are valued and sought out by the product managers and engineers I collaborate with daily. Having a strong and supported perspective is essential for driving the team forward to ship features quickly. It’s been amazing to witness this kind of growth in myself and the friends I’ve made here. I’m excited to see how we continue to grow and discover what kind of designers we become during our time at Palantir.
To learn more about how other product designers are navigating this process, we asked six new grads for their unique journeys, insights, and reasons for choosing to start their design career at Palantir.
What led you to pursue a career in product design?
Claudia (New York)
I initially studied architecture at Georgia Tech, where I was exposed to product design in a joint studio on interactive museum exhibit design. I realized how much I enjoyed designing at a smaller scale, focusing on the step-by-step human interactions with technology and the physical environment. As a result, I took a hard left in the final year of my Bachelor’s, took up some startup and nonprofit projects, and enrolled in a Master’s program in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI).
Sarah (London)
In my second year at UC Berkeley, I took my first computer science course and, from the get-go, discovered a love for creating digital products and solutions — it felt like the perfect space to exercise my creative and problem-solving muscles. This discovery ultimately led me to UX/product design and influence my decision to major in Cognitive Science. I curated my curriculum to focus on human-computer interaction and psychology classes. I became absolutely fascinated with the psychological and neurological aspects of the relationship between our human brains and modern technology, and I enjoyed using knowledge to inform and justify design decisions in my product design work. During my last few years of college, I began doing design internships and taking on design work for early-stage startups — I found it super rewarding to build cool products with cool people, which ultimately led me to a career in product design at Palantir!
Vivian (New York)
Growing up, I always enjoyed various forms of design, including sketching, graphic design, and photography. I ended up majoring in data science at Cal, but it wasn’t quite what I wanted to pursue full-time. I had my first exposure to product design after joining a student-run design agency on campus. We worked on a variety of design consulting projects, where I had the chance to explore different spaces like entertainment, education, and fintech. In each of these projects, I found myself fascinated by problem-solving: the idea of being able to create a vision and transform it into reality. These experiences led me to choose product design as the perfect bridge between my interests in data, visual design, and human behavior.
Alicia (New York)
I chose to study manufacturing and design engineering in college because I’ve always enjoyed making things and wanted to develop both my analytical and creative skills. This foundation sparked my passion for the design process and, along with my interest in technology, led me to a career in product design. I love blending problem-solving with fast-paced innovation and appreciate how this path allows me to make a tangible impact on products. I’m also motivated by the entrepreneurial spirit in product design and enjoy the opportunity to bring concepts to life in ways that delight users.
Kepler (London)
I often found myself enamored with excellent UX and pristine UI, but I didn’t have the vocabulary to express it until I joined a software club at university, where I played a PM-type role. I quickly became obsessed with the design aspect of technology: while implementation was interesting to discuss, user flow and world-building dominated my thought processes. This was where I wanted to contribute. I took a UI/UX course to learn Figma and pivoted professionally from materials engineering to design.
Phoebe (New York)
Discovering what kind of career you might enjoy is a nonlinear process that takes a lot of self-reflection. I studied business administration at the University of Southern California and loosely planned to focus on marketing or strategy, but I was unsure about a specific direction beyond something creative and people-centered. While navigating that process, I got involved with the entrepreneurship community on campus as a product designer — purely out of curiosity. I fell in love with the experience of shaping products, upholding a high craft bar, and working with smart people in a fast-paced environment. I added on a minor in product design and worked on some cool projects in the startup space before joining Palantir!
Why did you choose Palantir?
Sarah
As an early-career designer, I was keen on finding a space where people cared deeply about their impact and shared a love for learning rapidly and growing exponentially. I find that Palantir fosters this kind of culture effortlessly, which makes it such a special place for early-career folks to become wickedly good at their craft at an unmatched pace.
Alicia
What attracted me to Palantir was the opportunity to grow as a designer without being restricted to a specific path, giving me the freedom to explore my interests. I’m drawn to the business side of design, and Palantir does a good job of incorporating that into its projects. I also wanted to be in a place where I could be a trusted product partner, and it was clear that designers here have a major impact on product strategy.
What do you enjoy most about your role as a new grad designer?
Kepler
There is a level of trust in the designers and our designs that is universally respected, even for those with no full-time industry experience. It removes any condescension during critique — everything is considered a reasonable and rational idea. I think being “confused” and even sometimes “wrong” at Palantir is looked at positively. As a new grad, this culture lets me be confident in the face of continuous challenge and learning.
Phoebe
I really enjoy the level of product ownership and the opportunity to contribute to higher-level strategy. Having such a large scope of work is uncommon for early-career design roles, but it’s one of my favorite parts of my job. I’ve been engaging more with the development process and am encouraged by seeing the impact and influence I can have on my team. Collaborating with and learning from product managers has helped me grow in areas I am most interested in, like product sense.
Vivian
I enjoy the level of responsibility and scale of the features we work on. My daily work ranges from visual improvements, scoping out essential workflows in the product, to creating the future vision for our product. I also get to collaborate with my PM and front-end developers to ship features and see them in production. This level of independence and ownership has given me the opportunity to grow a lot in a short amount of time.
What advice would you give to students interested in joining Palantir as a designer?
Claudia
Highlight what makes your design thinking unique! For me, this involved applying a systems-thinking lens and spatial analysis in one of my presented projects. My background in architecture strengthened my ability to zoom out and contextualize my designs within a larger ecosystem. But this could take any shape; consider how your experiences inform the way you approach problems.
Phoebe
Invest time in refining your communication skills. Your design work is best showcased when it is concise, focused, and tells a story! I find it especially important to present your work clearly when working on complex flows and navigating technical constraints.
Sarah
My best pieces of advice:
- Showcase that you are capable of holding strong opinions backed by even stronger reasonings — I find that the best way to communicate design decisions effectively involves backing your choices with user research and product vision thinking!
- Have a drive for cracking challenging problems.
- Care obsessively about the quality of your design craft.
Join Us and Make a Difference
At Palantir, our new grad product designers are pivotal contributors to projects addressing of the world’s most urgent challenges. By joining our team, you’ll find yourself in an environment that champions creativity, collaboration, and rapid iteration. You’ll work alongside experienced designers, engineers, and product managers who are passionate about leveraging technology to create meaningful solutions.
If you’re eager to make real-world impact early in your design career, consider joining us at Palantir.
See our current openings here: https://www.palantir.com/careers/
Palantir’s Blueprint for Early Career Success in Product Design was originally published in Palantir Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.