By Meta Careers
What do you work on at Facebook?
I'm a Product Designer on the Workplace team. Workplace is designed and built in London. It's the product we use for collaboration within our company, and now we're bringing some of that capability to the rest of the world. Companies adopt Workplace to connect their employees. It's become their communication layer.
My journey to Facebook
I was home in my beloved Scotland when I got the call. I was expecting to relax with a little island-based family time, but when word of the Facebook job came through that all changed. My mother was in state of fever pitch. She'd just started using Facebook to reconnect with her old school pals. A daughter working there would give her something to brag about.
At the time, I was working at Twitter and really not looking for a change. But learning about Facebook culture and the London product team made my decision simple. I'd spent the last 9 years in London, with a mix of agency experience and in-house tech roles with Microsoft, Skype and Motorola. I loved being part of these companies and I learned a ton, but each role presented the challenge/tension of remote offices and split product priorities. Facebook's approach was different. London was an important part of the Facebook story; one of five main engineering centres worldwide, bringing diverse thinking to a global product, and encouraging mobility between teams and offices.
Two years in, and we're still growing. It motivates me every day to see London and the UK as the home of many important projects. I've already mentioned Workplace, but London is also the home of Protect and Care - a team who focus on the safety of the Facebook community. Camera AR engine + Camera artist tooling - this London team helped build Facebook camera technology including the tooling that allows artists and developers create new effects, masks and in-world objects. And Oculus Rooms, a new virtual space where friends can get together. We also have a team for Business Solutions, creating software for our advertising clients. Our London team really is central to some of Facebook’s biggest global innovations. Slightly further afield, in Bridgewater, Somerset we have Aquila – an unmanned solar-powered plane designed to beam Internet access to unconnected parts of the world.
What's it like working at Facebook?
One of my favourite things about working at Facebook is the culture. I still remember the first time I walked in to the office, instantly feeling the energy, excitement and enthusiasm. Everyone genuinely believes in the company mission. Everyone has the opportunity to develop their skills and pursue their passion.
Facebook helps people boost their technical competence and stay at the forefront of innovation. They create opportunities for Product Designers to explore new parts of the business and develop new ideas. Our regular Hackathons are where everyone can pursue a passion project, and many new products and features have come from one: even the Like button! It's an empowering culture that challenges us to solve problems through ideas and influence, rather than heavy process.
Describe product design at Facebook
Product design at Facebook is like nothing I've done before. We have a relentless focus on making valuable things – not just for the niche few, but for everyone. We design for people, unlocking what matters most to them. We ship to the entire world.
We don't have clients. The best judges of our work are the people we design for. 'Good' means an experience that's easy-to-use, enjoyable, and above all – useful. Everything we do tries to solve someone's problem.
Product design is collaborative and multidisciplinary. Designers, Product Managers, Engineers, Researchers, Content Strategists and Data Scientists all bring their skills to the table. I love the emphasis on team building. Each team is empowered to own a problem. As a result, they're super invested and work together to develop solutions. Different skills and perspectives coming together with that push and pull that builds a better product.
Being a design leader
I love how Facebook cares about my personal growth and career objectives. It's not just the managers who lead people. Strong leadership from individual contributors (ICs) drives product development. As a designer it’s the best way to develop in your career. In fact it’s why the IC and manager tracks are parallel, not sequential. Becoming a manager isn’t a promotion, it's just a shift in focus from developing products to developing people.
I was always a keen strategic thinker - someone who enjoyed guiding initiatives and shaping how we should tackle problems. In a world of extremely smart people it took a while to find my groove. I'm so grateful to my fantastic manager and co-workers who helped me find ways to show leadership in my product team and with my fellow designers.
Here's just some of the things I've learned in the past two years...
1. Drive initiatives
Product Designers have a superpower: not only selling ideas and getting people excited, but following through with a fully functional product. Constantly seek out opportunities that no one else is working on. Share them with your team, frame them, present them and get them built. About a year ago a wonderful human and very smart lady named Lily (Product Manager) came to me with an idea. Together we defined a hypothesis, using data and research to validate our solution. Within a few days we had a functioning prototype. We successfully pitched the concept to Facebook's leadership team, and now it's a fully staffed product shipping to the world.
2. Drive discussions and establish trust
A while ago, I noticed that my team was working on a feature set that didn't seem to be solving a real user problem so I explained why I thought we should move on. The most challenging problems get solved when you can have those hard and difficult conversations with your team. Being clear and principled was the most valuable thing I could do. I found I needed to establish trust and get comfortable with this part of the job.
Just some of the Facebook London design team
3. Join forces with different teams
At Facebook we encourage mobility between teams to foster collaboration and knowledge sharing. I've spent a ton of time working across other product teams. I learn from them. They help me build connections between people and teams and I call on these relationships every week. They make me more effective in my role, and help me build influence with those around me. As a designer I am able to create links between product teams.
4. Mentorship
Working in a smaller office has presented me with the opportunity to develop others through mentorship. It's a fantastic and rewarding opportunity to be able to support new people. I'm passionate about soft skills; building relationships and trust that helps people become more successful in their job.
As a mentor, I help people to feel comfortable in their new role and surroundings. I help them hone their skills. And sometimes I'm just a good sounding-board. Growing as a designer and a leader is something everyone is empowered to do. You don't need to wait for someone to promote you into a position: just start doing it.
We're Hiring!
We're looking for people to join us and help in our mission to bring the world closer together. Check out our design opportunities and other roles in London here.
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- Read about what's on our design minds here.
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