From Publishing to Product — with Michelle Lock
Meet this week’s featured designer Michelle, who is a product designer at Seek (JobsDB) and a Figma Community Advocate.
Hi, I’m Michelle! I was born in Hong Kong but have lived outside of HK for most of my life, living in Shanghai, Miami, and New York. In my spare time, I enjoy having good food, watching shows and movies, scrolling through Twitter, and listening to BTS! 💜
What inspired you to pursue design? How did you start getting into design?
I discovered a passion for design in university — actively participating in designing for the college magazine and yearbook. When I graduated, I knew I wanted to pursue a career in print publishing. I moved straight to New York and worked as an editorial designer and art director for a couple of years. After a while, I felt like I wasn’t being challenged enough in the print space, and wanted to transition to digital and product.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced with design?
The biggest challenge is probably also one of the aspects I enjoy the most. There’s always something new to learn or an area to improve in, and it can be difficult to keep up, prioritize, and focus. I’ve had to learn to take it one step at a time to not feel overwhelmed, as well as rely on the people around me to mentor me and give me advice — and for that, I’m grateful!
What does a typical day look like for you?
These days I’ve been working at home, so it’s not super exciting. I wake up and check my notifications to see what happened overnight. I get some quick breakfast and a coffee ☕️ Then I’m online to start work.
I work with a lot of people in Australia and our time of overlap is the morning, so usually, my mornings are full of meetings. I usually have some lunch around 1 or 2 PM. In the afternoon, I focus on design work. This might include preparing for a workshop, analyzing some data, wireframing in Figma, or catching up on Slack communication.
In the evenings after dinner, I try to go out for a walk or some exercise in the park. Afterwards, I: plan some initiatives for the Friends of Figma Hong Kong community, work on some side projects, catch up on NFT followings, or watch some TV. I usually go to bed around midnight.
What is your current workspace setup?
I use:
- 28” Lenovo monitor
- MacBook Air M1 (personal)
- MacBook Pro M1 (work)
- iPad Pro
- Laptop stand
- Apple Magic Keyboard
- MX Master 3 mouse
- Jabra headphones
What are your go-to or “must-have” apps?
The apps I currently use the most are Spotify (desktop and mobile), Discord (desktop), and Twitter (mobile).
What is your favorite part about Figma?
I don’t remember how we worked without Figma. How did people collaborate??? I remember having to manage Adobe files and then the mess of emailing files or somebody accidentally saving over the correct version. It’s crazy how we managed back then. I’m so jealous of all the kids in college now who can use Figma to collaborate on projects together. My favorite part about Figma is that it can bring a group of people together to design and build something of any fidelity.
What is your favorite afternoon snack? Or midnight snack?
An afternoon snack would probably be something sweet! Like an egg tart or chocolate. For midnight snacks I prefer something savory — maybe a pack of salty seaweed or salt & vinegar chips!
What is a book you read recently? Or what is your favorite book?
I’m almost finished reading No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer. It’s all about Netflix’s work culture — it’s super interesting and one I’ve never experienced before in my career.
What’s something in Hong Kong that inspires you? Could be a person, a place, an object, or anything in HK!
The tram inspires me! When I’m not in a rush, I love taking the tram and sitting at the front of the upper level. It’s such a cool piece of Hong Kong’s history. I’ve always been interested in cities’ transportation systems.
Is there a product that recently impressed you? Can be digital or physical.
This isn’t necessarily a product — but I’m always impressed by bamboo scaffolding. I’ve never noticed it outside of Hong Kong (definitely not in the US) and I don’t understand how it works! It must be easier to put up compared to other types of scaffolding but all the tying and knots look difficult to me 😄
Share three pieces of advice for fellow design community members.
- Keep on learning! From everybody around you. And keep track of what you learn!
- Push yourself out of your comfort zone. You might surprise yourself!
- If you’re unsure about something, ask for help! We are all understanding and have probably experienced something similar. Don’t be afraid or shy about reaching out to somebody.
What are three topics people can chat about with you?
Design, entertainment, and food
How can people reach out to connect with you?
Feel free to connect with me through LinkedIn:
You can also find me on the Friends of Figma Hong Kong Discord:
We hope you enjoyed this interview with our featured designer! This is the first in a series and we’ll be talking to more designers from our community. So stay tuned or reach out to us if you wish to be featured.
About us:
We are Friends of Figma Hong Kong 🇭🇰, a design community based in Hong Kong. Join us in our Discord server and check out our website.
