Design

Design at Goodnotes: An Introduction

April 29, 2025
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At Goodnotes, the design team is a cross-disciplinary team passionate about crafting exceptional experiences that unleashes everyone's creative potential.

We focus on finding the balance between users' needs, business goals, and technological possibilities to create a digital note-taking experience that feels intuitive and delightful.

Our Global Team

Led by Yaprak Gultay Davison, our Head of Design based in Stockholm, our diverse team spans 13 countries and 9 different time zones. This isn't just a fact about us, it's fundamental to how we work. We bring together different cultural contexts, design practices, and problem-solving approaches to create experiences that unlock the creative potential of our users worldwide.

Just as our team reflects a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives, so too does our global user base. Designing for such a rich spectrum of needs and contexts requires more than just skill, it requires empathy, openness, and an understanding of people’s differences and commonalities.

We're a collective of versatile designers who approach problems from different angles: some are visionaries who imagine the future, others excel at strategic thinking, while others dive deep into user needs or technical details. It's this diversity of thought, bound together by a shared foundation, that allows us to achieve what none of us could do individually.

How We Work

Cross-disciplinary Collaboration

Our team structure brings together three core disciplines:

  • Product Design: Creating user-centered digital experiences that are both functionality and aesthetically delightful
  • Content Design: Crafting clear, concise, and engaging content that enhances the user experience
  • Design Research: Systematically investigating users' needs, behaviors, and experiences to inform design and product decisions

Redefining Leadership Paths

The discipline of design is always evolving, and we recognize that there are many paths to leadership. We’ve established flexibility in the way designers can grow and lead at Goodnotes:

Individual Contributor: The Design Master

Not every designer who excels at design needs to move into management. Our IC track allows designers to deepen their expertise, tackle increasingly complex challenges, and influence product direction without making the shift into management. These design masters innovate through their craft excellence and lead by example.

Hybrid: The Player-Coach

Some designers thrive when they can both coach and design. Our hybrid track enables these designers to maintain hands-on work while taking on leadership roles, bridging the gap between individual contributions and team lead. These hybrid leaders understand the craft deeply because they're still practicing it.

Manager: The Natural Leader

For those who find fulfillment in nurturing team culture and talent, our management path focuses on facilitating others' growth and ensuring alignment with company goals. These leaders, who are still strong in their craft, focus on creating an environment where great design can flourish.

What’s unique about our approach is that these paths aren't rigid or one-way. Goodnotes designers can evolve and shift between paths as their interests and strengths develop. We believe that this flexibility benefits individuals and makes our design culture more resilient because it recognizes, values, and rewards different forms of leadership.

Pillars of Design Excellence at Goodnotes

Craft & Quality

There is power in thoughtful detail. From the perfect radius of a corner to the subtle animation that guides a user's attention, we recognize that excellence lives in each and every element.

Empathy & Insight

Good design starts with deep understanding. We observe how people capture and organize information and use those insights to inspire our designs and guide our decisions.

Tradition & Innovation

The past inspires the future. We exist at the intersection between the familiar, analog note-taking tradition, and the ever-evolving digital frontier, creating what paper alone never could.

Cross-functional Collaboration

Design excellence is a shared endeavor. We share context across functions and unify our effort and impact toward our shared goals.

Join Our Global Team

If you're looking for your next challenge in design, consider this:

At Goodnotes, you won't be constrained by narrow role definitions or rigid career ladders. You will have the freedom to grow in the direction that matches your strength, whether that's mastering your craft, leading others, or finding your unique balance between the two.

You'll join a truly international community in which diversity of thought and approach is valued, not just tolerated. Your perspective, shaped by your unique experiences and background, will meaningfully contribute to how we solve problems.

And perhaps most importantly, you'll work on a product that helps millions of people think, learn, and create more effectively, and work with real impact that you can see in the hands of users worldwide.

We are always looking for passionate designers who want to shape the future of digital note-taking. We are currently hiring, check out our careers page for current openings.

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