Roll Call: Tobia + Kiyana + Tim
Yelp’s Product Design team consists of many talented folks who work on all facets of Yelp products. Each month, we’re sharing their stories.
Tobia Crivellari
Favorite business on Yelp:
The Grove Yerba Buena in San Francisco, CA
Where were you before Yelp?
Before Yelp, I was working at Bonagora for three years — it’s a B2B tool for home and living marketplace for global wholesale buying. I was taking care of design and product for all platforms, and guiding the UI/UX for the whole product across platforms. Before Bonagora, I was working at TunedIn for a year — it’s a second screen company focused on making the interaction with the TV content better and socially engaging. I was taking care of their iOS app re-design, and the design of the Android app from scratch, plus helping with the web app design. Before this, I spent four years working as graphic designer at a local print store near my hometown in Italy. I was taking care of print setup and graphic design of all kinds, from business cards, posters, and flyers to apparel and swag customizations.
If you weren’t a Product Designer, what would you be doing?
I think if I wasn’t a product designer, I’d probably still have a creative job, since it’s very important to me to be able to work on things that allow me to explore, create and be creative, and leave a personal touch on things I do. When I started university, I wanted to be a director, and it felt like an amazing field to be in. I’m still very into film; I love learning about shooting techniques by watching behind-the-scene videos and effects walkthroughs. It’s so fascinating to see how a scene is actually shot! Lately, I’ve also developed an interest in industrial design sketching and I would love to learn more about it.
Did you ever decide, “I’m going to be a designer?
Yes, kind of! I remember that I was very into design of all kinds at first — especially digital arts, typography, and movie posters. At some point I discovered UI design and fell in love. I was trying to replicate amazing skeuomorphic UIs with tons of effects and it was a great time. After years of doing this on my own time, I felt like this could make me happy if only it would be a real job. Getting paid to do UI felt like a dream. At that point, I decided to really get into it; I studied and grew my own understanding of that world until I felt like I fully grasped how it works. So I started to create my own UI patterns, sharing them with the world and creating my own portfolio. After that, I tried sending out my resume in the hopes that I’d be able to do this professionally, and luckily I landed in Berlin! That was amazing, and now I’m at Yelp (in the Hamburg office), which is incredible. If someone would have told me this a long time ago, I would have laughed, but here I am!
What are you reading / watching / playing / making in your free time?
In my free time I like to watch movies (especially behind-the-scenes videos or director’s cuts), TV series, and documentaries. I especially like documentaries because they give you immediate insights into whatever you’re interested in: animals, history, science, design, life, psychology, and so on. Regarding my reading, most of the time I use books a resource for learning, just like documentaries. I like sports biographies, books on psychology, artist’s books, and more. I’m also very active outside of work. I train at the gym every morning before coming to work, and I play soccer, beach tennis (if you don’t know it, here’s a video), snowboarding, and I’m willing to try more. Also when I have some free time I like to draw and sketch, because of my interest in industrial design. Besides everything I’ve mentioned so far, I also find time to go out with friends and enjoy a night out, have a nice dinner, and a drink talking about whatever comes to mind.
Kiyana Salkeld
Favorite business on Yelp:
La Marzocco Café & Showroom in Seattle, WA
What is your background?
As a kid I had an affinity for drawing, and for years I secretly wanted to become a comic book illustrator. As I got older, my interests shifted and I realized I was drawn towards analytical problem solving. When it came time for me to decide what I wanted to be when I grew up, I thought that being a computer graphic animator would bridge my love for art with my systematic approach to problem solving. So when I arrived at UC Berkeley, I decided to study computer science. After interning as an Android software developer and as a product manager, I quickly realized that I didn’t want to limit myself to coding. I wanted to be able interact with users directly. I realized that studying Cognitive Science would help me inch closer to this goal.
I went straight from Berkeley to the University of Washington, where I earned my Master’s in Human Computer Interaction and Design. This program integrates courses from the four departments in the cross-disciplinary group, Design Use Build (DUB): Computer Science & Engineering, the Division of Design within the School of Art, Human Centered Design & Engineering, and the Information School.
After graduating from UW, I joined Yelp as a product designer.
What is your design process like?
Because of the highly interdisciplinary nature of my Master’s program, I would describe myself as being a generalist — we learned everything from how to conduct generative and evaluative user research, to UX principles, to visual design, and to prototyping. I feel very comfortable taking a project from early inception — which for me usually means conducting primary and/or secondary research in order to inform or define a problem space and a design direction — through final implementation — which could mean creating high fidelity prototypes in Principle — all while iterating based on feedback from other product designers and relevant stakeholders. I like to solicit feedback as much as possible, even outside of our formal design critiques. I very frequently describe myself as being a research driven product designer, and that’s in large part because of the skill set I gained in school; I like to iterate based on the findings from usability tests that I structure and facilitate on my own.
What design tools really make a difference in your day-to-day life?
My personal belief is that design is something that primarily happens outside the confines of software like Illustrator and Sketch and that design thinking is of utmost importance. I don’t have any formal visual design training, but once I became comfortable with the user-centered design process I became much more confident in my ability to succeed as a designer. I frequently refer to Nielsen’s 10 Usability Heuristics to make sure that my designs comply with their principles for good interaction design.
Having said that, I think that motion plays a large part in good usability, so I rely upon Principle to communicate motion to various product stakeholders. It’s also just a lot of fun to bring a static design to life!
When you’re not designing you are…
Consuming ridiculous amounts of audio media. I couldn’t live without Spotify or the Podcast app. I’ve had Solange’s “A Seat at the Table,” Vince Staples, “Big Fish Theory,” Tyler the Creator’s “Flower Boy,” and Future Islands “The Far Field” on near repeat as of late. As far as podcasts are concerned, I’ve been really loving “A Piece of Work with Abbi Jacobson” and The Ringer’s “Rewatchables.”
Tim Plummer
Favorite businesses on Yelp:
Cockscomb in San Francisco, CA
Mission Chinese Food in San Francisco, CA
Lord of the Light Art Studio & Gallery in San Jose, CA
Where were you before Yelp?
I was born and raised surrounded by great colleges here in the Bay Area, so naturally I picked up and moved to the other side of the country for my higher education (sorry mom and dad)! I studied graphic design at RISD, which is a wonderful place full of wonderful humans with terrible sleep hygiene. There, I learned the value of talking less and listening to my professors and peers as much as possible, because everyone has something to teach you if you pay close enough attention. For a semester, I also studied at ELISAVA in Barcelona as part of their exchange program. They place a lot of emphasis on group projects and collaboration across disciplines, which is an essential skill for aspiring professionals in design.
At both RISD and ELISAVA, I found that smart, creative people also make amazing friends and collaborators. With their help, I made some projects that I’m still extremely proud of to this day. Of particular interest to me in my own work is the intersection of journalism and design, where the editor of a publication also has the motivation and skill set to shape its voice visually. That’s a powerful combination that can turn a collection of good writing into a really moving experience of readership.
What product do you work on? What challenges is your team up against?
I’ve been working on the Yelp Reservations team since I first interned at Yelp over three years ago. It used to be a startup called SeatMe and still functions like a startup within Yelp, delivering a top-of-the-line restaurant management product to restaurants while also enabling Yelp users to make online reservations at the push of a button. The diner-facing part of Yelp Reservations is what I’m working on now, and our single biggest challenge is getting people to think of Yelp as a place to go for more than just reviews or photos. There’s a delicate balance between informing a user of a valuable feature and annoying them to the point that they never want to use it, so we’re quietly growing our inventory of restaurants while also making Yelp Reservations an amazing experience for diners (who want to eat at great local spots) and restaurants (who want as much business as possible during open hours).
Walk us through your day.
In detail, a pretty normal day at work would look something like this:
9:15 AM: Get into the office
9:20 AM: Write daily goals using Dayboard
9:23 AM: Make breakfast (cinnamon raisin bagel w/ cream cheese)
9:35 AM: Work on reservations designs for the Yelp iOS app in Sketch
9:50 AM: Talk to Stephanie (my wonderful product manager) about designs, and about what we think is left to complete
10:15 AM: Standup with the whole Yelp Reservations Diner team (developers, engineering manager, PM, designer)
10:30 AM: Talk to devs implementing designs, keep working in Sketch until lunch
11:30 AM: Beat the line to Señor Sisig for a California Burrito w/ spicy pork
11:45 AM: Watch soccer in the 8th floor booths with fellow fans + whoever else will tolerate our yelling
12:30 PM: Halftime, back to work on the 5th floor
1:10 PM: After much effort, I am happy with the designs and send an InVision link to some of the design team for feedback
1:30 PM: Soccer game is over, time for the weekly editorial meeting with my fellow design blog editors
2:00 PM: Get some good feedback from other designers, time to iterate on designs
4:15 PM: Circle back with Stephanie and send designs to stakeholders (including the VP of Product and other teams that could be affected by a change)
4:30 PM: Work on the 8th floor with friends for the rest of the work day
6:00 PM: Time for dinner and Yelp’s monthly Trivia Night
7:20 PM: Team Monkey Banana narrowly wins again, we all go home feeling proud
What are you reading / watching in your free time?
I’ve been watching and enjoying Netflix’s Ozark, which follows the Breaking Bad example of suburban dads being bad to protect their families, and succeeds because the writing is subtle and human. I also have a pretty big backlog of foreign films that I’m going to watch with my girlfriend when she comes to San Francisco, including The Intouchables, Gods, Once, and Amour. Our last big TV adventure was The Young Pope, which is well acted, beautifully filmed, and has a really eclectic soundtrack. Needless to say, we’re very excited for The New Pope.
I’ve recently read The Last Days of Night by Graham Moore, which is about Thomas Edison, George Westinghouse, Nikola Tesla, and the no-holds-barred legal battle over lightbulb and electricity patents in the late 19th century. Before that, I finished the sixth installment of James S.A. Corey’s “The Expanse” sci-fi series, which has all of the careful character development, politics, and world building loved by Game of Thrones fans, but set in the early days of human space colonization. People may move around in space and time, but they’re still just people, and that’s what “The Expanse” books capture so well.
Feeling inspired to get to know us a little better? Look us up on Dribbble, and if you’ve got the design chops and are passionate about local businesses, check out current openings for the Yelp Product Design team at yelp.com/careers.
