James Caruso
Senior Product Designer · Platform & Systems
20 years in product design, including 10 years at Meta. Led platform design across Facebook Gaming, Groups, Events, Quest and Wearables. Took a declining billion-dollar product through a full technical and product reset. Built systems that scaled teams, accelerated execution, and carried culture.
Experience
Meta (Facebook), Senior Product Designer
2015 - 2026AI Camera Intelligence
Designed wearable camera intelligence connecting visual input, intent, and model interpretation so the camera could read a moment and act.
AI-Assisted Messaging
Led AI-assisted messaging across Facebook and Reality Labs, linking replies, voice input, and contact ranking into one flow.
Platform Transformation
Drove Facebook Gaming from legacy web product to modern streaming platform, growing revenue from $2B to $4B+ annually.
Creator Monetization
Created Stars, Facebook's first creator currency, with 43% monthly active payer penetration and top creators earning $250K+ annually.
Cross-Platform Gaming
Designed Instant Games across four surfaces (web, mobile, desktop, Messenger), reaching 18M daily active players.
Developer Tooling
Restructured the Horizon Worlds editor's asset management with hierarchy and search so creators could find, inspect, and publish.
Community Systems
Grew community DAU 5.5% and scaled Community Chats across Gaming, Groups, and Messenger, making engage 5x daily.
Wearable Communication
Led wrist messaging, calling, notifications, and contact ranking, holding the experience steady through hardware and OS iterations.
Cross-Device Interaction
Defined EMG-based interaction paradigms between wrist wearable and smart glasses, enabling touchless control and seamless device handoff.
Prototyping Infrastructure
Unlocked on-device prototyping for Reality Labs, resulting in 100% designer adoption, 5x faster validation cycles.
Pandemic Pivot
Designed and launched Online Events at pandemic onset, increasing event participation by 35% with engagement sustained post-pandemic.
Design Leaership
Built and led a 20-person design team, mentored junior designers through office hours, and created org-wide prototyping culture initiatives including Demo Days and Prototyping Forum.
Skills
Product
Platform + systems design
Monetization & creator tools
Cross-surface (mobile, TV, web)
Conversational AI products
Multimodal camera intelligence
Strategy
Conceptual exploration
Executive communication
Vision artifacts & storytelling
AI product strategy
Model behavior & intent design
People
Team building + hiring
Cross-functional leadership
Culture development
AI-fluent design culture
Team upskilling on AI tools
Craft
High-fidelity prototyping
UX/UI design + visual systems
Interaction + motion design
AI-powered prototyping
Prompt + intent design
Projects
