Everywhere can surprise you. The block you pass every day and the city you've never seen are both full of stories hiding in plain sight. What's missing is company: someone who knows the place, right beside you.
That's what we built with Routes. It's an audio-first companion that feels like it's right next to you, anywhere in the world, telling you what to know and where to go. It knows where you are, and reveals the context, the surprises, the conflicts, and the hidden stories that animate a place, on any topic you're curious about, at your own pace and in your own language. Try it here.
Our mission is to change how people experience the world. We believe that technology, and AI especially, should make the world around you richer and more alive, not pull you deeper into a screen. Technology's next chapter shouldn't be about escaping reality. It should be about falling back in love with it.
We're a small team backed by top investors ($4.1m raised from Adverb, Lerer Hippeau, Point72 Ventures, and Origins), and our users love us. 300k+ downloads, tens of thousands of hours listened, and a 4.9-star average review show that they see this as the future of travel.
We're expanding fast, and looking for a Designer to make Routes more joyful, more playful, and easier to use. You'll shape how the product looks and feels, gamifying the experience so exploring the world feels like play. A background in video game design is a real plus. This is a contract role to start, ideally a short, focused stint of four to eight weeks, with the chance to become a full-time engagement depending on what we build together.
This is a rare opportunity. A high-velocity startup where travel meets game design and delight, on a small team where what you design reaches real users within days and you have real responsibilities from day one.
We started Routes AI to bring back wonder, because the world is far more surprising and delightful than we let ourselves notice. Come join us on that journey.
As a Designer at Routes AI, your job is to make Routes more joyful, more game-like, and more fun to use. You'll shape how the product feels in people's hands and find the moments where exploring the world can feel like play.
→ Joyful Product Design: You'll design the look, feel, and flow of the app so that using it is delightful, not just functional.
→ Gamification: You'll bring game-like mechanics and playfulness to exploration, making discovery something people want to come back to.
→ Craft & Taste: You'll challenge us to improve the product across various screens, to create a cohesive experience for the user across disparate workflows (free-form and guided).
We stay flexible on background and hire for taste and craft. We think the best candidates are product designers with a strong sense of play, and we especially prize a background in video game design.