How I got to Meta’s design team
From zero real world experience to designing for billions at one of the world’s renowned hi-tech companies in 5 years.
Typing that out, it sounds much better and more grandiose than it felt. In retrospect there were subtle and distinct phases, attitudes, and actions that naturally led from one to the next until I found myself at Facebook.
My intention with this article is to be as retrospective and honest as possible in an effort to light the way for anyone out there aspiring to take a similar path.
At the end of each stage I will add specific actions I took (or didn’t but should have taken) so that if you find yourself in that stage you know what you can begin doing to get to the next. Feel free to read all the way through or just skip to the Takeaway sections where the practical stuff is.
Career Stage 1: Baby Designer
Time in stage: 2.5 years / Experience Level: Low / Employer: Mitchell International
My career technically started in April of 2011, four months before I graduated from the UC San Diego Cognitive Science department. I landed a design internship at a small enterprise software company in San Diego called Mitchell International. I faked it all the way through the interview process and was probably hired mostly on potential.
I was super green to say the least. My education was mostly theoretical, very academic, and not at all hands on. I had a good foundation and knew the terminology, but I had to learn how to actually design on the job. I like to, endearingly, call people in this stage “baby designers”.
I was keenly aware of my lack of real skill, and thus this stage of my career was marked by learning and living by the “kaizen” philosophy of continuous improvement. I was ravenous for information. I read every design book I could get my hands on. I attended every conference. And I studiously applied the learnings from each to my work.
When it came to design tools, I would start with one, slowly become comfortable, and then move on to learning the next. Mitchell was a bit old school, so my setup was a desktop Windows machine (*current self swoons over the implications on work-life balance*). I didn’t know it at the time but this was limiting for a designer. The tools available to me were Microsoft Visio (for wireframes) and Photoshop and Illustrator (and others in the Adobe suite).
Having somehow graduated with no hands-on design experience, using the Adobe suite was like coming into contact with an alien life form. Mitchell was also severely lacking in front-end engineers. This would lead to things not getting built as designed. My lack of front-end understanding meant I couldn’t push back or find a compromise with engineers.
Understanding my shortcoming in this area, and still being quite “kaizen”, I enrolled in several UC San Diego Extensions courses including web development and visual design. While at the end of these courses I still wasn’t a great visual designer, I at least could confidently navigate the tools. And on the engineering front, I even started putting together prototypes and production ready code, and pushing back on engineers when they would flat out say something wasn’t possible (because they couldn’t do it).
And then there was my boss. I was lucky enough at Mitchell to have an outstanding manager who to this day I consider a friend and mentor. Having someone at this stage of your career who you look up to and aspire to be is invaluable. It makes all the intangible, tangible and the theoretical, concrete. “Oh, that’s how I should facilitate a critique”, or “oh, that’s how I should approach that type of problem”. It was also a unique situation that led to our close relationship: he started as my colleague (albeit a few years my senior) and then became my manager. To this day, his uncommonly natural management style is what still makes me consider going into a design manager role.
But your mentor doesn’t have to be your boss, or even someone you work with or even know personally. The point is finding someone who you want to aspire to be and mimicking them relentlessly. Eventually it won’t be mimicking, it will just be how you conduct yourself.
Despite coming in to Mitchell with almost no design skills, in my first two and a half years I learned enough to be dangerous and graduated to, what I thought at the time, was the big leagues: Intuit.
Takeaways:
Make the most out of your time in school: While in school, get as much hands-on design practice as possible. This was a real handicap for me. Luckily since my time at UCSD, they have really stepped up the curriculum and hired world-renowned professors focused more on industry than academia.
Think “kaizen”: In the first couple years, read every design book you can and attend every conference you can reasonably afford (or your employer will pay for). The knowledge, terminology, and connections will be invaluable and will compound moving forward. If nothing else, this will help you “fake it til’ you make it”. Many people have written entire articles about the best design books, so I will not repeat that here.
Broaden your skillsets: It’s easiest when you naturally find a gap in your skills or in the skills of your team. It helps your team immediately move forward, and will definitely help you down the line. There are plenty of online courses and certification programs, or university extension programs like I took. Look into your company’s education reimbursement program to see what they will cover.
Find a mentor: This person doesn’t have to be your manager or even someone you work with. Just find someone you aspire to be and mimic them relentlessly.
Career Stage 2: Becoming a Generalist
Time in stage: 2.5 years / Experience Level: Medium / Employer: Intuit
By all accounts, Intuit is the big leagues. It is a major and storied tech company nestled in the heart of Silicon Valley. It is even design-driven; the founder, Scott Cook, often talks about design as Intuit’s competitive advantage and himself pioneered the “Follow Me Home” practice (a somewhat creepy synonym for “Cognitive Ethnography”) in the early days of the company.
I think this is really where I became a competent designer. Whereas before I was designing enterprise software used by hundreds, now I was designing for a major brand name consumer product used by millions. I started on a small, but integral part of the user experience, what later became known as TurboTax Home (you can read more about that work here). Honestly I think this was the first work I did that I felt proud of (it only took almost 3 years).
I eventually went on to work on integral TurboTax features like ExplainWhy™ and the TurboTax iOS and Apple Watch apps. With each project I gained confidence in my ability to tackle ambiguity, solve hard problems, and launch successful features and products.
I also had the opportunity during this stage of my career to start thinking outside of my work and my company. I was encouraged by my manager and others around me to start sharing my work externally. I dipped my toe in the water with a few short form Medium posts and then went all in with a conference talk on a concept I had been thinking about for a while: Principles of Emotional Design.
I was a bit nervous at first so I put the talk together with a buddy and colleague, Jake Maynard. I gave the talk solo at UXPA 2015, SoCal UX Camp, and at a local San Diego Experience Design Meetup. Then Jake and I were invited to Seattle to give the talk at the Zillow Speaker Series. We sort of capped off the whole Emotional Design thing by turning the material into a Skillshare course entitled Understanding Emotional Design for everyone to benefit from. Other than starting to conquer my fear of public speaking, the unseen benefit of all of this time and effort was learning the art of storytelling. The further I get in my career, the more I understand the profound advantage those have in the design field who can craft and tell a good story; Eli Silva Montgomery wrote a nice piece about it here.
Around the same time I began doing freelance design work for one company, then two, then three, then four. It wasn’t anything I planned on doing, but after one opportunity fell into my lap, the rest sort of snowballed. At the time the main benefit seemed to be working on new and interesting projects and, of course, the money. But in retrospect the biggest benefit was the chance to hone my visual design skill, a skill that until that point I had not worked on much. Until that point I had been working at companies that divided design teams into specific skillsets: Interaction Designers, Visual Designers, Motion Designers, etc. You can call these people “specialists”.
However many companies, from small startups to major tech companies, are looking for what are called “generalists”. The catch-22 is that if you’ve only worked on teams of specialists then you’ve never had the chance to work on the skills you need to work at a company that hires generalists. Many people have written at length about the benefits of being a specialist versus a generalist. My opinion is that you should be whatever you need to be to get to the company you want to work for. If you want to work at a company like Facebook, you should be a generalist. If you are not currently a generalist, start working on those skills that are a little weaker.
During this phase, I worked on projects that boosted my confidence, honed weaker skills like visual design and learned new skills like storytelling and public speaking.
Takeaways:
Find your voice: Ask yourself this: Is there anything that you’re working on that you think others would be interested in? Maybe it’s a process you’ve been using, a new design technique or practice, or maybe just the product itself. Find something that is unique to you and start writing about it. The design community is hungry for people’s unique stories and expertise. If you find something you write is particularly interesting, consider turning it into a conference talk. Worst case scenario you submit and don’t get chosen.
Specialize or generalize: What is your dream company? Find out about their hiring practices. Do they hire specialists or generalists? Whatever it is, become that. Continue honing your single, core competency, or work on broadening your tool set. A great way to become a generalist if you are currently working as a specialist is to begin doing freelance design work where you are forced to do everything. Online education platforms like Skillshare are another good option.
Career Stage 3: Making it, and Imposter Syndrome
Time in stage: Ongoing / Experience Level: Medium-High / Employer: Facebook
I call this stage “Making it” because I always felt like I would end up at a large company that I admired one day, but I never dreamed it would be only 5 years in to my career. Admittedly getting the job gave me a huge shot of serotonin as well as no small amount of confidence. However, the high quickly dissipated soon after joining the tech giant leaving me with the question in the back of my mind: “Why did they hire me?”.
I soon discovered that this phenomenon is common and even has a name: Imposter Syndome. It’s the overwhelming feeling that you don’t belong and that someone is going to find you out for the con artist you are. Our VP of Design, Julie Zhuo, talks about it here. All I can say is that when you finally get to your dream company, it’s likely you’ll feel this way. You’ve put it up on a pedestal so when you’re there, close up, it’s hard to see that it’s just a company, and everyone there is just is just like you. Do good work and the feeling will go away.
It’s also natural at this point to start thinking about going into design leadership and people management. This is a very personal decision as most people are perfectly happy as an individual contributor. Personally, I have never been one to shy away from leadership.
As young as twelve or thirteen I started taking on leadership roles in the Boy Scouts of America until I was the Senior Patrol Leader of my troop; I was elected into student government, representing my college at the University of California, San Diego; I served as the president of my fraternity; and I served on the non-profit board of a local design group in San Diego where I chaired a committee to host our second ever local San Diego design conference, Mob’d Up.
But when it comes to the question of design management I have gone back and forth. While I very much enjoy mentoring younger designers, I don’t think I’m ready to step away from the craft involved in day-to-day product design.
Finally, while working at a tech giant in Silicon Valley can be fun and exciting, you may find that what you’re working on doesn’t bring you true joy. If you’re like me, this will leave you feeling ungrateful and lost, like nothing will fulfill you. But after dissecting my career I realized I had been chasing one cool project or company after another, never stopping to think about what I am actually passionate about.
To be honest, I haven’t figured it out yet, but I know I will. Until then, I very much enjoy what I am working on and am excited each and every day to be surrounded by smart, caring people, working at a ground-breaking, innovative company.
Takeaways:
Get over Imposter Syndrome: This is easier said than done, but I think it just takes time and producing solid work.
Start thinking about your career trajectory: Do you want to continue as a designer, of would like to get into design management? Think about the things you get enjoyment from and decide which role suits you.
Discover your passion: You may be happy and enjoy what you’re working on, but is it what you’re truly passionate about? Spend some time thinking about what excites you; what gets you up in the morning; and what brings you fulfillment. If it’s what you are currently doing, great! If not, start making moves.
The last thing I have to say is that everyone’s journey is different. For some the idea of being a product designer at a tech giant in Silicon Valley will send chills of excitement down your spine. But it’s not for everyone, and everyone’s journey to this point is different. Hopefully my story will be helpful to those who are on, or hope to be on, a similar trajectory.
Finally, I am endlessly grateful to those who have helped me along the way. You know who you are.
And if you’re currently interviewing or just getting started on your job search, check out my Product Design Interview E-Book at www.uxinterviewtraining.com. Also download my free Product Design Portfolio Template that’s compatible with Keynote and Figma.
