About the job
At datacurve, we are revolutionizing data collection through our innovative platform, Shipd. This engaging application turns tedious annotation tasks into an exciting, competitive adventure filled with quests, bounties, and leaderboards. As we continue to evolve, we are seeking a Founding Design Engineer to refine our existing platform into a sophisticated, scalable solution that meets the needs of our contributors and clients alike.
Your Role
Design Robust Systems: Develop custom design systems and reusable UI components that effectively accommodate diverse data formats and workflows.
Lead Quest Builder Development: Create efficient multi-step agent workflows and UI structures to ensure rapid, consistent, and scalable setups.
Address Complex UX Challenges: Design for extended coding sessions, foster a competitive programming culture, and integrate real-time telemetry.
Implement Gamification Features: Develop leaderboards, streaks, bounties, and community engagement mechanics that enhance user interaction.
Enhance Developer Tooling Interfaces: Improve VS Code forks, browser extensions, and trace viewers by creating a high-performance, developer-friendly UI/UX.
Streamline the Shipping Process: Integrate design and engineering to accelerate development, enabling swift iterations and refinements.
Success Factors
Demonstrated experience in building 0→1 products and establishing design systems from the ground up.
Experience in developer tools, gamification platforms, or intricate marketplaces.
A dual mindset: capable of thinking like both a designer and an engineer, balancing visual appeal, user interaction, and system performance.
A founding mentality: resourceful, motivated by equity, and eager to invest effort into building a sustainable legacy.
Desired Characteristics
A hybrid thinker: part game designer, part engineer.
A strong focus on functional complexity, beyond just aesthetic UI.
Interest in developer psychology and scalable motivational strategies.
Ability to thrive in uncertainty; capable of delivering results quickly without waiting for established processes.
Preferred Qualifications
Familiarity with VS Code extensions, IDE plugins, or browser extensions.
Understanding of marketplace and community dynamics.
Experience in gamification design or engagement psychology is a plus.

