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At Blockstream, we believe Bitcoin is changing the world, and we’re here to help it succeed. Our mission is to build the financial infrastructure of the future, making it easier for individuals and businesses to secure and transact their digital assets. Blockstream’s “layer 2” solutions such as Liquid and c-lightning extend Bitcoin with new capabilities, and our product suite of wallets and enterprise tools make these powerful platforms accessible to end users.
We’re a growth stage company that recently closed a $210M round of funding. We’ve built a reputation for visionary industry insight and a track record of delivering innovation on hard technical problems. Come join us in our mission!
As our Head of Product Design, you’ll lead the product design team, and partner closely with company leadership to drive our goals and deliver world-class products. You’ll help grow and mentor a team of designers, and adjust our design process as we scale. This role reports to Blockstream’s Chief Product Officer.
What You’ll Be Doing (Responsibilities):
- Lead a team to oversee and execute interaction & visual design, user research, and prototyping in pursuit of developing intuitive, user-friendly products that delight users and align to our strategic objectives
- Partner with product managers and other stakeholders to identify and articulate new opportunities, clarify user problems and inspire the direction of our work
- Channel the voice of our users. Organize qualitative and quantitative research to identify gaps and usability issues, to help the company better understand its users, and to validate possible solutions
- Collaborate with engineers to work through technical feasibility and ensure design details are clear and captured by the implementation
- Utilize techniques to measure or quantify effective design choices, and employ data to inform decisions or strengthen a product narrative
What We Look For In You (Required Qualifications):
- 10+ years of experience in a design related field, including managing and growing a team of designers
- Proven experience transforming customer needs and business goals into iterative, execution-friendly plans with appropriate resources
- In-depth knowledge of design practices, research methodologies, and current design tools
- Ability to present and rationalize decisions to internal and external stakeholders
- Comfort with the pace, scrappiness and dynamic environment within a growing startup
- Have successfully supported, coached and scaled teams across Product Design, User Research, and User Experience
- Experience designing products with complex technical features and high security standards
- Understanding of Bitcoin or blockchain-related technology
- Passion to learn and to create a learning environment where designers grow and expand skill-sets, techniques, and tools (This is Bitcoin - no one knows everything about it, We grow and learn together)
What is the meaning of Layer 2?
Layer 2 in the context of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology refers to a secondary framework or protocol that is built on top of an existing blockchain system (the main chain or Layer 1)
The primary purpose of Layer 2 solutions is to solve the scalability and speed issues that many blockchains face, especially those that have become popular and heavily used, like Ethereum
Here are the key aspects of Layer 2 solutions:
- Scalability Enhancement: They help in scaling the main blockchain by handling transactions off the main chain. This reduces the burden on the main chain, allowing for faster and cheaper transactions.
- Types of Layer 2 Solutions: There are various forms of Layer 2 solutions, including state channels, sidechains, plasma chains, and rollups. Each has its own mechanism for interacting with the main chain and handling transactions.
- State Channels: These involve two parties engaging in numerous transactions outside of the main chain, which are then consolidated into a single transaction. This is especially useful for situations where multiple transactions occur between the same parties.
- Sidechains: These are separate blockchains that are connected to the main chain via a two-way peg. They operate independently and can have their own consensus mechanisms but are secured by the main chain.
- Plasma Chains: Plasma chains are similar to sidechains but with a more hierarchical structure. They report back to the main chain regularly and are optimized for mass transaction handling.
- Rollups: Rollups process and store transaction data on a sidechain but post transaction data to the main chain. They come in two varieties: optimistic rollups and zk-rollups, each with its own method of transaction verification.
- Security Considerations: While Layer 2 solutions are generally secure, they can have different security models compared to the main chain. This is an important consideration for users and developers.
- Impact on User Experience: For end-users, Layer 2 solutions can greatly improve the experience by reducing transaction fees and increasing transaction speeds.
- Adoption and Development: Many blockchain projects are actively developing Layer 2 solutions to enhance their networks. This is an ongoing area of innovation in the blockchain space.