Associate Product Designer (College Grad 2027)

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Associate Product Designer (College Grad 2027)

Company: Solace

Location: Redwood City, California, United States

Job Type: Full-time

Category: Product Design / User Experience

Date Posted: August 06, 2026

Experience Level: Entry Level (0-2 years)

Remote Status: Hybrid (3 days in-office)

🚀 Role Summary

• This role focuses on designing user-friendly healthcare experiences, translating complex workflows into intuitive interfaces for web and mobile platforms.

• You will collaborate closely with experienced product designers, product managers, engineers, and clinicians to bring new product features to life.

• The position requires rapid exploration of ideas through sketches, wireframes, and prototypes, with a strong emphasis on user research and usability testing.

• This is an exceptional opportunity for early-career designers to learn, build, and ship real products in a fast-paced, mission-driven startup environment.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is specifically targeted at recent graduates (Class of 2027) with a strong foundation in design principles and a keen interest in the healthcare technology sector. The hybrid work model indicates a need for on-site collaboration, emphasizing team integration and mentorship within the Redwood City office.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Learn and apply best practices in product design by working closely with senior designers on daily tasks and projects.

• Contribute to the creation of user flows, wireframes, mockups, and interactive prototypes for both web and mobile applications.

• Support the design and refinement of user interfaces, ensuring clarity, simplicity, and aesthetic appeal within complex healthcare contexts.

• Actively participate in user research activities, including interviews and usability testing sessions, to gather insights and validate design decisions.

• Collaborate effectively with product managers to understand requirements and translate them into functional design solutions.

• Partner with engineers to ensure design feasibility and maintain high-quality implementation of user experiences.

• Contribute to the development and maintenance of Solace's design system, ensuring consistency and scalability across products.

• Incorporate feedback from design reviews, user testing, and cross-functional partners to iterate on designs and drive continuous improvement.

• Assist in defining and documenting user personas, journey maps, and interaction models.

• Maintain a keen eye for detail, ensuring that all design elements contribute to a cohesive and impactful user experience.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities emphasize a learning-by-doing approach, typical for associate-level roles. The inclusion of "clinicians" in the collaboration list highlights the domain-specific nature of the design challenges, requiring an understanding of healthcare workflows and user needs.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: Bachelor's degree in Design (e.g., Graphic Design, Interaction Design, UX/UI Design), Human-Computer Interaction, or a related field. Equivalent practical experience may be considered.

Experience: Entry-level candidates (0-2 years of experience) are encouraged to apply. Experience gained through internships, class projects, student teams, or personal projects demonstrating design and shipping capabilities is highly valued.

Required Skills:

• Strong foundational understanding of user-centered design principles and methodologies.

• Proficiency with modern design tools, with a specific emphasis on Figma for UI design, wireframing, and prototyping.

• Ability to rapidly explore design concepts through sketches, wireframes, and interactive prototypes.

• Experience participating in user research and usability testing, and incorporating findings into design iterations.

• Solid communication skills, with the ability to articulate design decisions and rationale clearly.

• Openness to receiving and incorporating constructive feedback from peers and stakeholders.

• Demonstrated comfort with ambiguity and a proactive, bias-for-action approach to problem-solving.

• A keen eye for detail and a commitment to crafting high-quality, polished designs. Preferred Skills:

• Familiarity with design systems, component libraries, and their application in maintaining product consistency.

• Exposure to designing for both web and mobile platforms.

• Basic understanding of HTML/CSS and how design translates to code.

• Experience or strong interest in the healthcare industry and its unique design challenges.

• Ability to contribute to design documentation and process improvements.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on Figma and an online portfolio is critical for early-career designers. The "bonus" qualification about shipping real work through internships or projects suggests that practical application and demonstrable output are highly valued over theoretical knowledge alone.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• An online portfolio showcasing a range of design projects, demonstrating your design process from ideation to final execution.

• Projects should highlight your ability to tackle complex problems and translate them into user-friendly solutions.

• Include case studies that clearly articulate the problem, your approach, design decisions, and the outcomes or learnings.

• Demonstrate proficiency in using design tools, particularly Figma, through examples of wireframes, user flows, interactive prototypes, and final UI designs.

• Showcase your understanding of user research and how it informed your design process. Process Documentation:

• Case studies should detail your personal involvement in each stage of the design process, including research, ideation, prototyping, testing, and iteration.

• Clearly outline the design challenges you faced and the specific strategies you employed to overcome them.

• For each project, articulate the key learnings and how they would influence future design decisions.

• Demonstrate an ability to incorporate feedback and iterate on designs based on user testing and stakeholder input.

📝 Enhancement Note: For an Associate Product Designer role, the portfolio is paramount. It needs to show not just polished final screens but also the thinking and iterative process behind them, especially how user research and feedback were integrated. Demonstrating a "bias toward action" through project examples will be key.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: For an Associate Product Designer role in Redwood City, California, with 0-2 years of experience, the estimated annual salary range is between $70,000 and $95,000. This range is based on industry benchmarks for entry-level design positions in the Bay Area, considering the cost of living and the competitive tech landscape.

Benefits:

• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance plans.

• Stock options as part of a growing Series C startup.

• Generous paid time off (PTO) and company holidays.

• 401(k) retirement savings plan.

• Opportunities for professional development, including access to design conferences and workshops.

• Commuter benefits for in-office days.

• Team events and social gatherings to foster a strong company culture.

Working Hours: The standard working hours are approximately 40 hours per week, with flexibility to accommodate project deadlines and team needs. The role requires 3 days per week in the Redwood City office.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary estimate is based on data from reputable compensation platforms (e.g., Glassdoor, Levels.fyi) for similar roles in the San Francisco Bay Area, adjusted for an entry-level position and the specific company stage (Series C startup). Benefits are typical for tech startups offering competitive packages to attract talent.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Healthcare Technology (HealthTech). Solace operates in a critical sector focused on improving healthcare navigation and patient outcomes through technology and advocacy. The market is characterized by complexity, high stakes, and a strong need for user-centric solutions.

Company Size: Series C startup, indicating a growth stage with established funding and a growing team. This size typically offers a dynamic environment where individual contributions have a significant impact.

Founded: 2022. As a relatively young company, Solace likely fosters an agile, innovative, and fast-paced culture, driven by its mission to redefine healthcare.

Team Structure:

• The design team is likely lean and highly collaborative, working closely with product management and engineering.

• Designers are expected to be hands-on and contribute across the entire product development lifecycle.

• The company emphasizes a mission-driven approach, with all team members united by a desire to improve healthcare.

• Cross-functional collaboration is key, involving close partnerships with clinicians to ensure the design solutions are grounded in real-world healthcare needs. Methodology:

• Data-driven decision-making, leveraging user research and analytics to inform design.

• Agile development processes, enabling rapid iteration and deployment of features.

• A strong focus on user-centered design, prioritizing the needs and experiences of patients and advocates.

• Emphasis on clear communication and feedback loops across all departments.

Company Website: https://www.solace.health/

📝 Enhancement Note: The company culture is described as "intense," "mission-driven," and demanding "urgency, precision, and heart." This suggests a high-performance environment where individuals who thrive on challenge and impact will be well-suited. The Series C funding and rapid growth imply significant opportunities for learning and contribution.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: Associate Product Designer. This is an entry-level position designed for individuals at the beginning of their design career. It offers a structured environment to learn foundational design skills, gain practical experience, and develop a deep understanding of product development within the healthcare domain. The focus is on skill acquisition and contributing to established design processes under mentorship.

Reporting Structure: The Associate Product Designer will report to a more senior designer or a Design Lead. This provides direct mentorship and guidance, ensuring continuous learning and development. Collaboration will extend across product management, engineering, and clinical teams.

Operations Impact: While this is a design role, its impact on "operations" is through creating efficient, user-friendly tools and experiences that streamline healthcare navigation for patients and advocates. By improving user workflows and decision-making, the design directly contributes to the operational efficiency and success of Solace's advocacy services, ultimately impacting patient outcomes and operational costs.

Growth Opportunities:

• Skill Advancement: Deepen expertise in UI/UX design, user research, prototyping, and design systems. Gain specialized knowledge in healthcare design challenges.

• Career Progression: Potential to advance to Product Designer, Senior Product Designer, and eventually Design Lead or Manager roles as experience and capabilities grow.

• Cross-Functional Learning: Opportunities to learn from product managers, engineers, and clinicians, broadening understanding of the product development ecosystem and healthcare industry.

• Ownership: As experience is gained, opportunities to take on ownership of specific features or product areas.

📝 Enhancement Note: The growth path for an Associate Product Designer is typically defined by mastering core design skills, demonstrating consistent impact, and taking on increasing levels of responsibility. Solace's startup environment, with its emphasis on rapid growth and learning, offers a fertile ground for such development.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Solace operates a hybrid work model, requiring 3 days per week in their Redwood City office. This setup balances the benefits of in-person collaboration and team cohesion with the flexibility of remote work.

Office Location(s): Redwood City, California. This location is in the heart of the San Francisco Bay Area, a hub for technology and innovation, offering access to a vibrant professional community and talent pool.

Workspace Context:

• The office environment is designed to foster collaboration and innovation, with spaces conducive to brainstorming, design reviews, and team meetings.

• Access to modern design tools and technology is expected, supporting efficient workflow and creative output.

• Opportunities for informal interactions with colleagues across different departments (product, engineering, clinical) will be frequent, facilitating a holistic understanding of product development and company mission.

• The culture is described as "intense" yet "caring," suggesting a professional yet supportive atmosphere where dedication and collaboration are highly valued.

Work Schedule: The standard work week is approximately 40 hours, with the expectation of 3 days spent in the Redwood City office. This hybrid schedule allows for focused work time at home and collaborative synergy in the office.

📝 Enhancement Note: The 3-day in-office requirement underscores the company's value for face-to-face interaction, mentorship, and team building, particularly important for early-career professionals. The Redwood City location places Solace in a prime spot within the tech ecosystem.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Application Screening: Initial review of resumes and portfolios to assess foundational skills, design process, and alignment with the company's mission.

• Portfolio Review & Initial Interview: A more in-depth discussion about your portfolio projects, design thinking, and motivations. This stage often involves a conversation with a hiring manager or senior designer.

• Design Challenge/Exercise: Candidates may be asked to complete a take-home design exercise or a live design critique/problem-solving session to evaluate their practical skills, problem-solving approach, and ability to articulate design decisions.

• Cross-Functional Interviews: Meetings with product managers, engineers, and potentially clinicians to assess collaboration skills, communication style, and cultural fit.

• Final Interview: A concluding conversation, possibly with a senior leader, to discuss career aspirations, company fit, and finalize the offer.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Wisely: Select 3-4 strong projects that best showcase your skills, process, and problem-solving abilities relevant to this role. Prioritize projects that demonstrate user-centered design and iterative development.

• Tell a Story: For each project, clearly articulate the problem statement, your role, the design process, key decisions made (and why), and the outcomes or learnings. Use visuals effectively to guide the viewer.

• Highlight Figma Proficiency: Show examples of wireframes, user flows, interactive prototypes, and final UI designs created in Figma.

• Demonstrate Process: Don't just show final screens; include sketches, research insights, user feedback, and iterations to illustrate your thinking and how you adapt.

• Address Healthcare Context: If possible, include projects that touch on complex workflows or user needs similar to healthcare, or articulate how your general design principles apply to such domains.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand the Brief: Carefully read and understand the requirements of any design challenge. Ask clarifying questions if needed.

• Focus on Process: Even if time is limited, show your thought process. Document your assumptions, research steps (even if brief), ideation, and rationale behind your design choices.

• Prototype and Iterate: If it's a live challenge, think about showing an iterative approach. If it's take-home, include a simple interactive prototype.

• Presentation Matters: Prepare a clear, concise presentation of your work. Be ready to explain your decisions and answer questions about your approach and potential trade-offs.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on a "strong bias toward action" and "incorporating feedback quickly" suggests that interviewers will look for candidates who are not afraid to start building and iterating, and who are receptive to input. The portfolio review will be a critical gate.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Figma: The core tool for UI design, wireframing, prototyping, and collaboration. Proficiency is essential.

• Prototyping Tools: While Figma has robust prototyping capabilities, familiarity with other tools like InVision or ProtoPie could be beneficial for more complex interactions.

• Design System Management: Experience contributing to or utilizing design systems is highly valued.

Analytics & Reporting:

• While not a direct responsibility for this role, an understanding of how design impacts user behavior and how analytics tools (e.g., Amplitude, Google Analytics) are used to measure success is advantageous. CRM & Automation:

• Not directly relevant to this design role, but understanding how user interfaces connect with backend systems and data workflows is helpful.

📝 Enhancement Note: The explicit mention of Figma is a key technical requirement. For an Associate role, deep expertise in multiple tools isn't expected, but a strong command of Figma and an understanding of how design integrates with broader product development tools and processes are important.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Mission-Driven: A deep commitment to Solace's mission of simplifying healthcare and improving patient outcomes. This translates to a focus on user impact and dedication to solving complex problems.

• Urgency & Precision: A fast-paced environment where efficiency, accuracy, and timely delivery are paramount. This applies to design execution and collaboration.

• Heart & Care: Despite the intensity, there's a strong emphasis on empathy and care, both for users and for team members. Design decisions should reflect this human-centered approach.

• Curiosity & Learning: A culture that encourages continuous learning, exploration, and a willingness to tackle new challenges with an open mind.

• Craft & Detail: A dedication to high-quality design, where attention to detail is recognized as crucial for creating meaningful user experiences.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-Functional Integration: Seamless collaboration with product managers, engineers, clinicians, and other designers is fundamental. Open communication and shared ownership are key.

• Feedback Loops: An environment where constructive feedback is regularly exchanged and acted upon. Designers are expected to be receptive and provide thoughtful input.

• Knowledge Sharing: A culture that supports sharing insights, best practices, and learnings across the team to elevate collective design capabilities.

• Agile & Iterative: Embracing agile methodologies means working in iterative cycles, adapting quickly to new information and user feedback.

📝 Enhancement Note: The company values are distinct and emphasize a high-performance culture that is also deeply human-centered. Candidates should be prepared to articulate how their personal values and work style align with these principles, particularly the balance between "intensity" and "heart."

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Navigating Healthcare Complexity: Designing for a highly regulated and complex industry like healthcare presents unique challenges in user understanding, compliance, and data privacy.

• Balancing Speed and Quality: As a fast-growing startup, there's a constant need to ship features quickly while maintaining high design standards and user experience quality.

• Ambiguity and Rapid Change: The startup environment inherently involves ambiguity and frequent shifts in priorities. Designers must be adaptable and comfortable working with evolving requirements.

• Designing for Diverse Users: Solace serves both patients and advocates, potentially with varying levels of technical proficiency and health literacy, requiring inclusive design solutions.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Mentorship: Direct guidance from experienced product designers will provide invaluable learning opportunities for skill development and career navigation.

• Industry Exposure: Gaining deep insights into the HealthTech industry, understanding its specific challenges and opportunities.

• Skill Specialization: Opportunities to develop expertise in specific areas of product design, such as user research, interaction design, or design systems.

• Impactful Projects: Working on products that have a direct and meaningful impact on people's lives.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges presented are typical for a startup in a complex sector like healthcare. Highlighting how one would approach these challenges (e.g., through structured research, iterative design, strong communication) will be beneficial during the application process. The growth opportunities are substantial for ambitious early-career designers.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you had to design for a complex or ambiguous problem. How did you approach it, and what was the outcome?" (Focus on your process, research, and how you handled uncertainty.)

• "How do you incorporate user feedback into your design process, especially when it conflicts with your initial ideas?" (Showcase your humility, iterative approach, and user-centricity.)

• "Imagine you need to design a feature for patients with low health literacy. What are the key considerations, and how would you approach user research for this group?" (Demonstrate empathy, understanding of user needs, and research methodology.) Company & Culture Questions:

• "Why are you interested in Solace and our mission to improve healthcare?" (Connect your personal values and career goals to Solace's mission.)

• "How do you handle fast-paced environments and shifting priorities?" (Emphasize adaptability, proactivity, and a bias for action.)

• "Describe your experience working collaboratively with engineers and product managers. What makes for a successful cross-functional partnership?" (Highlight communication skills, teamwork, and understanding of the product development lifecycle.) Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure Your Narrative: For each project, start with the problem, your role, the constraints, your process, key decisions, and the final outcome/learnings. Keep it concise and engaging.

• Show, Don't Just Tell: Use visuals (sketches, wireframes, prototypes, final screens) to illustrate your points. Walk through your Figma prototypes to demonstrate interactivity.

• Quantify Impact (if possible): If your projects had measurable results (e.g., improved conversion rates, reduced errors), highlight them. For an Associate role, qualitative outcomes and learnings are also highly valuable.

• Be Ready for Deep Dives: Anticipate questions about your specific contributions to team projects, your design rationale, and how you would tackle hypothetical design scenarios.

• Connect to Solace: Frame your experience and skills in the context of Solace's mission and challenges.

📝 Enhancement Note: Interview preparation should focus on demonstrating not only design skills but also the "hunger, ambition, and deep curiosity" mentioned in the job description. Being able to articulate your design process, handle feedback gracefully, and show enthusiasm for Solace's mission will be critical.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Associate Product Designer position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on Ashby.

• Portfolio Customization: Ensure your online portfolio is up-to-date and prominently features projects that showcase your design process, problem-solving skills, and proficiency with Figma. Prioritize case studies that highlight user research and iterative design.

• Resume Optimization: Tailor your resume to highlight relevant design experience, education, and skills, particularly those related to UX/UI design, wireframing, prototyping, and collaboration tools like Figma. Quantify achievements where possible.

• Prepare Your Narrative: Practice articulating your design process and project stories clearly and concisely. Be ready to discuss your motivations for applying to Solace and your interest in healthcare technology.

• Company Research: Familiarize yourself with Solace's mission, product, and recent funding news (e.g., Bloomberg article). Understand the challenges in the healthcare advocacy space and how design can contribute to solutions.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and operations industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions.

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