Jessica Liu on taking the long view

Beyond making an impact in the present, Dropbox engineer Jessica Liu prepares for a healthy, productive future

Lisa Sanchez
Dropbox Starters

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Jessica Liu shipped a complete redesign of Dropbox.com within a few months of joining the company. The overhaul employed new icons and gave the site a lighter look overall.

A recent graduate of Brown University, Jessica studied art alongside computer science. She has an eye for design and was well suited to the task. Initially, she thought it would be a snap.

As it turns out, there are hundreds of pages on the Dropbox website. The design team created new mockups of important pages, and Jessica made sure that the majority of the changes would propagate across the entire site on their own.

Since joining Dropbox a year ago, she’s also worked with the team that rewrote the Dropbox website to support two accounts.

Jessica worked with a team to rewrite the Dropbox website to support two accounts.

Jessica says she came to Dropbox because of its standard for excellence in engineering. She knew it was a place where she could grow.

“The engineers who work here are so smart,” she says. “I just knew that I would become a better engineer.”

But growing a sustainable career depends on maintaining a healthy balance in the present. Jessica’s dedicated to cultivating this balance for herself and for the engineering team as a whole.

As part of a cross-team initiative on developing a healthy, inclusive culture, Jessica interviewed fellow engineers and compiled a list of action items for the team. Many of these revolve around welcoming new hires, establishing constructive frameworks for feedback, and setting examples for a healthy work-life balance.

Jessica’s work has not only influenced the engineering team but has helped develop a supportive atmosphere across the company. It comes as no surprise, since Jessica values relationships most of all.

“The thing that’s most important to me is the people I work with—having friends at work and loving the people around me. That’s the reason I came to Dropbox.”

Photos by Dan Stroud

In addition to building a healthy culture, Jessica has contributed to strengthening the foundation of the product. As a part of the platforms and libraries team, she built out a user interface library for the web, including login forms and other components that can be used consistently everywhere.

She’s covered a lot of ground in her first year out of college, and she’s now turning her attention Carousel. As a photos app with an illustrated brand, it falls at the intersection of her interests in engineering, art, and design.

To fellow engineers who are just starting out, Jessica advises taking the long view.

“Focus on being happy in the present,” she says. “When you’re looking for your first job, a lot of people take the decision very seriously. The truth is, there are so many years ahead of you. There’s time to do everything.”

The Dropbox engineering team is growing. We’d love for you to join us.

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