Jason James, VP of Design for Instacart

Elayne DeLeo speaks with Jason James, VP of Design for Instacart about his path to a career in design and the reality of "imposter syndrome" when success comes early. He also shares his insights on how businesses need to leverage design to build culture and foster collaboration, what he does to spark creativity in his team and for himself, and the design thinking and principles underlying Instacart’s approach to COVID and how they continue to guide their design into the future.

Bio:

Jason James (he/him) is VP of Design at Instacart, a grocery delivery and pick-up service. He leads the evolution of products and brand, along with research.

Previously, he served as VP of Design at Thumbtack, a marketplace for connecting homeowners and local professionals to get projects done. He developed brand and product design across their marketplace. He also was an early design leader at Earnest, Intercom, Kin, and DoneDone.

Jason is currently a mentor at Made in the Future, a program for emerging under-represented designers. There he helps mentees build their careers and get to the next level. He studied Design & Visual Communications at Northern Illinois University and studied Graphic Design abroad at Akademia Sztuk Pięknych in Poland.

Jason shares time between Oakland and Chicago with his wife and two cats – Whiskey and Ringo.

See his articles on Medium: A Framework for Deciding Your Next Job and 5 Myths About Design Management