What is Designathon?
The Design @ Berkeley Design-a-thon is an all-day design sprint, similar to a hackathon but geared towards human-centered design. All Bay Area student designers, undergraduate and graduate, are invited to split into teams, and tasked with a prompt that they seek to solve by the end of the day!
Our mission is to increase accessibility within the field of design. We understand there are many obstacles and barriers within design and seek to give people a low-stakes, low-commitment opportunity to either get their foot in the door of design or add a whopping piece to their portfolio!
When & Where is Designathon?
The Design @ Berkeley Design-a-thon will be held on April 13, 2025, at the Residence Inn, Berkeley, CA.
Meet our Speakers & Judges!
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Michael Lucaccini
DIRECTOR, UX & DESIGN - AMAZON MUSIC
Michael has 20+ years of experience leading all aspects of design, development and strategy for technology and media products and experiences that reach millions of users and span multiple platforms (mobile, voice, AI, web, desktop, television, CE devices). At Amazon, he oversees leads the UX team for Amazon Music.
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Matthew Spangenberg
SR. PRODUCT DESIGN MANAGER
With 15 years of experience, Matthew leads the team accountable for the foundational aspects of the Amazon Music product and its most frequently engaged features.
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Se On Park
SR. PRODUCT DESIGNER - AMAZON MUSIC
Se On leads initiatives for Core Information Architecture across Mobile, Web, and all clients supported by Amazon Music. He also has launched projects including community features, Search, Amazon Music Live, In-App Merch, and Amazon Music Prime 2.0.
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Tony Natoci
SR. CONVERSATION DESIGNER, ALEXA DOMAINS
Tony is a conversation designer. Since joining Amazon in 2022, he’s designed voice-forward Alexa experiences for customers, many of which are music-related — getting updates about new releases, finding fresh artists to listen to, playing music across devices in a home, and creating playlists, to name a few. He also spends time thinking about design patterns that can be applied across all of Alexa.Before coming to Amazon, Tony was the head of conversation design at Uber, where he established Uber’s conversational persona and built dozens of voice- and chat-bots for riders, drivers, and delivery people.Tony, a native of Ann Arbor, graduated from the University of Michigan in 2013 with a BA in Linguistics and Psychology. He lives and works in San Francisco.
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Chris Andonian
SR. DESIGN RECRUITER, AMAZON DEVICES & SERVICES
Chris is a Lead Recruiter on Amazon's Central Design Recruiting team. His focus is on the Devices & Services business, which includes UX for Alexa/AI and related consumer electronic products (Echo, Fire TV, Fire Tablet, etc.), Hardware/Industrial Design, and Consumer Robotics. Chris has nearly 20 years of creative and design recruiting experience, working at advertising/digital marketing agencies, design consultancies, and technology companies.
FAQs:
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Click here to register now! Registrations will close on April 10th, 2025 at 11:59 PM PST. We will not accept late registrations. Every member of your team must be registered to compete
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Of course! Anyone interested in design is highly encouraged to join! We will be offering a variety of workshops throughout the day as well as mentorship to assist you in the creation of your project! The Designathon is also a great way to kickstart your portfolio!
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3-5 members can be on one team. You may come with a pre-set team, or meet people day-of! We will also be assisting you with creating teams.
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Yes! The D@B team will help match individuals with teams during the event!
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Yes! Our designathon features workshops from industry professionals and experienced designers to guide participants.
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The amount of time you would like to design for is completely up to you! You are not required to spend the entire time designing, as we also encourage participants to visit the various events and workshops that will be hosted throughout the event! While it is highly recommended to submit a project, you are not required to! You can also attend the workshops and get to know the network around you. However, those who submit a project can put it on their portfolio and be considered for various prizes and awards.
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Yes! Be sure to register for our event to learn more about the prizes we have to offer!
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Yes, you will receive feedback on your work from our judges. Additionally, we will share the judges' contact information after the event, so you can follow up with them directly.
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Feel free to email us at designatberk@gmail.com
Past and Upcoming Sponsors:
