Five to inspire with Ruthia He
Product Designer @ Facebook
Who are you?
I’m Ruthia He. I’m a Product Designer at Facebook in Menlo Park, California. I led the design of a range of Facebook creative products including Quick Camera and Slideshow. I was also an early member on Facebook’s R&D lab, Building 8, and worked on a bunch of standalone apps at Facebook including Messenger and Moments.
I received my masters degree in product development from Carnegie Mellon University, and my bachelor degree in communications at Peking University.
What’s a typical day on Ruthia life like?
I usually start my day at around 7:00 am, write down what happened in life yesterday. I keep the habit of writing diary (sometimes it can be as short as a few bullet points) and find it the best way to start a day.
Then I will list a bunch of things I want to achieve today. Relax for a bit, and then take shuttle to work.
During work, you will find me either in the meetings, sitting/standing at my desk, or working in the sofa area in the office. I managed to split 70/30 of my time on meetings and design. I am satisfied with this balance right now.
You can also find me catching up with coworker / friends at coffee shop (we have a few coffee shops in campus at Facebook). I enjoy doing it, because we can usually inspire each other just by talking about what we are doing.
How would you define good design?
In the area of user experience design, I think good design is obvious. It is when you see the design, you will say “why haven't we done this before?”
I believe in “all design is re-design”. If you want to design a solution to a problem, that problem should already emerge somewhere. And most likely there are some sort of “solutions” out there. The “solutions” may not be well designed, and can be just invented by people who run into the problem. A good design usually comes from either enhancing the existing “solutions”, or trying another approach to better solve the problem that people have.
Share something you’d really like to do — but haven’t done yet. What’s keeping you from doing it?
Make some art. It could be some hipster music video, or a piece of 3D rendering. I want to create something without an audience in mind. Being as a product designer for so long, I’ve formed the habit of always carry people’s experience in mind. It is a good thing to learn, but also something hard to get rid of. I want to follow my heart and create something that only I and a few people will appreciate and other people will likely not give a shit.
How do you imagine your life as a designer 10 years from now will be?
I’m a product driven designer, which means when I design, I always carry the entire product in mind. In 10 years, I will likely be building my own product.
If for some reason that does not happen, I will be a designer / product management hybrid. I will be creating new experiences that hopefully inspire other designers, and make people’s lives slightly better.
People and/or designers that inspire you? (personally and professionally)
I admire the airbnb founders. They successfully bring design thinking into running a business. The success of airbnb credits a lot to the elegant user experience.
Also, I always want to be as strong as Steve Jobs to not make compromise to the last detail.
My former manager Julie Zhuo inspired me a lot. She has given me a lot of guidance and advice that helps grow in my career. She is also open to sharing her learning and experience publicly and has been inspiring many designers and non-designers.
Where can we find Ruthia He?
Reach me at rujiahe@gmail.com, or shoot me a message on Facebook Messenger.
