Dive Club 🤿 Julien Martin - Why Amo's Design Hits Different
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Feb 18, 2026 Julien Martin, a product and design leader who led design at Zenly and Snapchat and co-founded Amo. He walks through Amo’s visual atom and animated avatar motif. He talks playful map-era DNA, micro-interactions that elevate feel, and how small multi-disciplinary teams and side projects shape modern hiring and design culture.
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Design As Game-Like DNA
- Zenly built a playful, game-like visual DNA that made a simple location map feel delightful and sticky.
- That deliberate, over-the-top craft and personality helped Zenly gain traction in markets like Japan and Korea.
Amo's Three-App Origin
- After Zenly shut, the core team built Amo as a suite of apps: creative tool, camera, and a location app.
- They iterated rapidly and released three apps to reimagine social experiences with a unified Amo universe.
Find One Visual Atom
- Amo found its visual atom in animated, expressive avatars and collage-like IDs that became a halo for the whole UI.
- That single motif let them extend a cohesive, messy-but-curated brand across all apps and interactions.