One of the things I love about working at Facebook is the emphasis we put on personal growth and the objectives people have for their careers. We believe a person shouldn’t have to be a manager in order to lead people at the company.
Strong leadership from individual contributors (ICs) drives product development, and as a designer it’s the best way to develop in your career. In fact it’s the reason the IC and manager tracks are parallel, not sequential. Becoming a manager isn’t seen as a promotion, it just means you’re shifting your focus.
I joined Facebook during the summer of 2014, as an IC in the London office. It was an exciting time to join, as product teams were being established in London for the first time. There was just a handful of product designers in the newly opened office, which sits in between Euston Station and Regents Park, over three glass-clad floors. …
Some thoughts on why small teams get stuff done
Whether we’re designing for healthcare, education, sport, or the next big lifestyle product, as designers we’re pretty spoilt with the type of work we can be doing. Pretty much every industry you can think of has a need to create digital products and lots of them. A lot of people are attracted to working in big agencies, whilst others favour smaller agencies or startups. Which ever path you take as a designer, you’ll either find yourself working productively on something you love, or you’ll be sat frustrated with the pace of a project that you’ve long lost interest in. …
About
