# James Powderly > Design | Agents | Amazon Location: San Francisco Bay Area, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/jamespowderly I lead the design of technology platforms that empower creative humans. My signature accomplishments: - I worked on the re-design and launch of Alexa+, the OG AI personal assistant, for Echo Show, Frames, Alexa dot com and the Alexa app. - I led the design of Snap’s AR glasses, Spectacles, and SnapOS, the first operating system to enable natural and multimodal generative AI. - As the design leader at Magic Leap, I made the critical decisions needed to build a world-class, global design team, increase investment by over $2 billion and ship the first consumer spatial computer, Magic Leap One, Lumin OS and 18 software products like the Helio Browser, Avatar Chat and the ML App Store. - I designed open source tech that empowered a paralyzed artist to draw with his eyes. - i am a founder, hands-on inventor and coder with 50+ design and technology patents. - My digital art has been featured in the permanent collection of the MoMA in NYC, the New York Times, at the Sundance Film Festival, on the Tate Modern, in Rolling Stone, on the keynote stage at SXSW, and the front page of YouTube. - I contributed to the discovery of water on Mars through my work on 3 of NASA's robotic science missions to the red planet. Let's connect and build something together! ## Work Experience ### Member of Technical Staff, Principal Product Designer, Autonomy - AGI SF Lab @ Amazon Jan 2025 – Present | San Francisco, CA Making wands for Muggles ### Principal Designer, Devices and Services Design Group @ Amazon Jan 2024 – Jan 2025 | Los Angeles Metropolitan Area • Led the design strategy for Alexa+ personalization and identity across the constellation of Amazon products and device endpoints. • Enhanced product access and personalization for over 20 million customers by launching the Alexa+ Family Manager • Developed innovative interfaces for the Echo Show, Echo Frames, and the Alexa mobile app. ### Design Manager, Spectacles & Snap OS @ Snap Inc. Jan 2019 – Jan 2024 | Los Angeles Metropolitan Area Leading Product Design, Prototyping and Platform UI/UX for multiple generations of Snap’s augmented reality sunglasses, Spectacles, its new operating system SnapOS and multimodal AI companion, MyAI. ### Director of User Interaction and User Experience @ Magic Leap Jan 2016 – Jan 2019 | Plantation, Florida I built a diverse and multidisciplinary org of design, research, art and prototyping leaders. I managed 5 teams, 5 vendors and 5+ million in design ops budget per year. We made the critical design decisions needed to increase investment by over 2 billion dollars, design the Magic Leap One spatial computer and support award-winning games and experiences across multiple engines, iOS, Android, Windows, macOS and the web. “Magic Leap feels like the future. These are a magnificent machine.”- Adam Savage, Tested.com My team and I owned and delivered: • The UX vision, strategy and design ops for all Magic Leap on-device, mobile and desktop software. • Executive and cross-org collaboration, communication, reporting and planning • All design prototyping, quantified design, internal tooling and technical art integration • All visual and sonic art, including: 3D real time art & motion, shaders, VFX and 3D sound assets. • Design insight and validation based on user testing, research and live analytics. • A branded design system with bold design principles, UI Kit, a custom font made for see through AR and online design guide. • The UI wireframes, detailed specs, multimodal interaction guides, algorithms and UI content design. ### Principle Designer, Input & Hardware UX @ Magic Leap Jan 2015 – Jan 2016 | Dania, Florida I led a small team in the design of the input paradigm and hardware UX for ML1. We collaborated — from concept to the assembly line in Guadalajara — with Industrial Design, Human Factors, Engineering, Supply Chain and ML Game Studio to design and ship the Magic Leap One hardware, game controller and input paradigm including natural multimodal interactions using hand, head, body, eyes and speech enabling voice + gesture commands and avatar social presence. ### Senior Designer @ Samsung Electronics Jan 2013 – Jan 2015 | Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea I led a small experience incubation team creating wearable prototypes with Chris Bangle, Swarovski, Moschino, LVMH, Zegna and Porsche Design for Samsung's Mobile Division. ### Senior Designer/Engineer, Corporate Design Center @ Samsung Electronics Jan 2012 – Jan 2013 | Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea I led the design strategy and prototyping for emerging XR and wearable products including early proof-of-concepts for Galaxy Glasses and Galaxy Ring. ### Co-Founder, Studio Director @ Nasa Factory Jan 2011 – Jan 2012 | Seoul, Korea Nasa factory (Nasa means screw in Korean) created interactive media architecture and interior design for home, retail and events in partnership with URBANTAINER, a Seoul-based architecture and space planning firm. - I designed and managed the manufacturing of an interactive lighting system for Club Octagon, which is currently ranked at #5 on DJ Mags top 100 clubs in the world (2016) - I created and exhibited a 4-room lighting installation commissioned by Intel and Vice for the Creators Project in Seoul. ### Associate Professor of Visual Communication Design @ Hongik University Jan 2010 – Jan 2012 | Mapo-gu, Seoul, Korea I taught undergrad studio design courses and graduate seminars in design, tech and culture. ### Co-Founder @ The Graffiti Research Lab Jan 2005 – Jan 2011 | Brooklyn, New York I co-founded the Graffiti Research Lab, an organization dedicated to outfitting graffiti artists and activists with open source technology for urban communication. The GRL is most well-known for the EyeWriter, which has won numerous awards, been seen a million times on TED and is in the permanent collection of the MoMA in NYC. - GRL: The Complete First Season premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival - GRL projects have been awarded the Golden Nica and Award of Distinction by Ars Electronica, The Future Everything Award, the Excellence Prize from the Japan New Media Art Festival and the Design of the Year in Interactive Art from Design Museum, London. http://graffitiresearchlab.com ### Visiting Professor of Fine Art @ Kyoto Seika University Jan 2010 – Jan 2010 | Kyoto, Japan I taught a summer studio course at the Kyoto Seika Creative Lab in creative computing and DIY electronics called Home X. ### Adjunct Professor of Design and Technology @ Parsons School of Design - The New School Jan 2006 – Jan 2008 | Greater New York City Area I taught HomeX, Internet Famous: The Class and Field Guide for Public Works with the Yes Men. ### Senior Reseach Fellow @ Eyebeam Jan 2005 – Jan 2007 | Greater New York City Area I designed creative technology for the public domain, like LED Throwies and Laser Graffiti. LED Throwies have been seen 5.6 million times on Instructables.com and featured in Wired and the NY Times. Laser Graffiti has been exhibited on 6 continents and downloaded over 100k times. ### Applications Engineer @ Honeybee Robotics Jan 2005 – Jan 2005 | Greater New York City Area I led a team of 3 engineers in the development of technology proposals for NASA and the DoD. We won $9M in SBIR grants in Q2 2005, including the Mars Science Laboratory sample carousel. https://www.honeybeerobotics.com/ ### Robotics Engineer @ Honeybee Robotics Jan 2004 – Jan 2005 | Greater New York City Area I engineered robotic systems for the exploration of space. I contributed to the discovery of water on Mars through my work on the Mars Exploration Rovers, the Phoenix Lander and MSL. ### Engineering Technician, Lab Foreman @ Honeybee Robotics Jan 2002 – Jan 2004 | Greater New York City Area I built robots, managed a 10,000 Sq.Ft. lab and led testing for the MER Rock Abrasion Tool. ## Education ### Master's degree in Interactive Telecommunication New York University ### BM in Music Theory and Composition The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/powderly - Portfolio: https://wikipowdia.org/ - Portfolio: https://linktr.ee/powderly --- Source: https://flows.cv/jamespowderly JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/jamespowderly/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-13