Yelp Product Design Leadership Q&A Part 4/4

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Yelp Design

9 min readFeb 28, 2022

👋 Welcome to the fourth part of our Product Design Leadership interview series!

In our fourth interview session, we had the chance to chat with our amazing leaders from not only product design, but also the UX writing and research teams at Yelp.

We are excited to introduce Alicja Parlak (UXW Manager), Christine Oh (PDM, Consumer), James Neal (Research Manager), Jay Goggin (PDM, Biz) and Brenda Kaing (PDM, Biz).

Why did you join Yelp?

Alicja:

Yelp’s values and culture resonated with me, and I loved how supportive and enthusiastic the team was about UX writing. This was also an exciting opportunity to use my experience to collaborate with talented teams to help establish and grow the practice of UX writing at Yelp.

Christine:

I had an awesome interview experience with Yelp’s design and recruiting team. Not only did I get a clear picture of the company culture (I heard a lot about getting to work with great people, having agency around the problems you wanted to solve, and a healthy work life balance, among other things), but I also saw that the design org had huge opportunities to grow and establish higher impact and ownership across the company, which was probably the most enticing aspect. As a bonus, I’d get to work on a product that millions of people use regularly.

James:

I love that I get to champion small businesses every day. Small businesses hire nearly half of all US employees, contribute significantly to US GDP, and most importantly, define our neighborhoods and drive local culture. However, small businesses face a lot of competition and are often very time and resource starved. Yelp’s mission is to connect people with great local businesses and I get to spend my day helping this audience succeed. I love helping businesses showcase what makes them special in order for them to get jobs — whether that’s a table reservation or a home remodel.

Jay:

I joined Yelp for a few reasons. Firstly, the people are great. I felt welcomed from the moment I interviewed and have made some great friends during my time here. I also really enjoy working on a product I use all the time. My wife and I love checking out all the restaurants in SF on the weekends, so Yelp was a product I was already familiar with.

Brenda:

I interviewed at Yelp in San Francisco because I (and millions!) enjoyed using the product — and then I joined the design team because of the people behind it. Yelp has such a great design culture that it really drew me in. Everyone I met was bright and passionate about good design AND local business owners. I’m happy to say that the same spirit holds true 3 years later.

What’s the best design/leadership advice someone has given you?

Alicja:

“Guide, don’t micromanage.”

The best leadership advice I ever received was to give your team members the space to use their expertise, and help them find ways to contribute in a way that takes advantage of their unique perspectives, skills, and experience. This helps people feel valued and allows them to feel a sense of ownership over their work.

Christine:

“Figure out what your leadership style is, and do that.”

As one of a few newly minted managers, it can be super intimidating to follow in the footsteps of leaders who are respected and recognized for the immense impact they’ve had. I’ve learned over time both through my mentors and the inevitable trial and error that you can only be the best you, not the next [✨ insert a leader you respect ✨].

James:

“Be your unique and authentic self.”

Collaborating with colleagues that have a variety of backgrounds and identities brings unique perspectives, and this is crucial to doing our best work. I’ve found that diversity is genuinely embraced at Yelp and there are countless examples where one person’s experience or point of view has shaped our products for the better.

Jay:

My previous manager shared an insight on the difference between an artist and a product designer that’s always stuck with me -

“An artist’s job is to make people think, a product designer’s job is to make people not think.”

When you’re using a well designed product, it should largely fade into the background so that you can accomplish whatever task you set out to do.

Brenda:

“If there is no bond, there is no team.”

In my observations, the highest performing teams are made up of people who like each other and who care about one another. If you want good design output, both in terms of creativity and productivity, you need to foster an open and collaborative environment. Big ideas are not made in vacuums, they build off of small ideas shared through a cohesive team.

What are you excited about for Yelp Product Design/Research in 2022?

Alicja:

Now that we have our team on board, I’m excited for the opportunity to make UX writing an organic part of the design process at Yelp. I’m looking forward to working with my team to establish and expand our formal UX writing principles, standards, and best practices, and explore ways to use copy to help create 5-star user experiences across our digital products. It’s going to be a fun year!

Christine:

We’ve spent a lot of time in prior years brainstorming what would make a best-in-class consumer and business owner experience for Home and Local Services. We also invested heavily in building the organizational infrastructure and support we need so that we can focus on solving the most important user problems. This year, it feels like we are poised to make some big leaps toward our long term vision by shipping some really helpful features for both our consumers and business owners, so I’m super excited about that!

James:

We have a centralized Research function, responsible for both UX Research and Market Research — which enables incredible synergy in the projects we lead, and gives the team a unique, holistic view across the entire company. Our team has worked hard to level up our influence in marketing and product roadmaps, and day-to-day decision making. With the groundwork we’ve laid and some new headcount investment, we’re in a great place for the new year. I’m certain 2022 will be a big year for the team.

Jay:

I’m excited about a lot of things, but particularly excited to be involved in the componentization effort on Biz Foundations. I think that will allow us to build great features at scale and at speed.

Brenda:

I spearhead our Biz CoreX team and there is still so much to do for our business owners. Our team is focused on Guidance & Engagement and I’m most excited about diving deeper into our business owners’ first time experience and educating them on what Yelp has to offer. CoreX is also uncovering new products and features to launch to help our local business owners. We’re trying to innovate quickly and continue to bring value.

How do you maintain and grow a remote design culture?

Alicja:

It’s important to find time to have conversations that are not purely about work to build that rapport. Take a few minutes to check in and see how everyone is doing at the start of a meeting instead of jumping right into the work. And really listen to what they have to say. Share a laugh and have some fun. Just find those little ways to connect and follow up throughout the week. It makes for a less stressful work environment and helps build your work relationships.

Christine:

It’s hard to create a remote design culture that works for everyone. For example, with virtual socials I’ve noticed that some folks really enjoy them, while others can’t wait to get off screen to focus on the tangible and non-virtual aspects of their lives. I think it’s every manager’s responsibility to figure out how to help each of their employees feel a sense of belonging and community by listening for what they need and initiating practices around that.

I haven’t perfected this by any means, but observed from other managers that having a constant feedback loop is effective for surfacing team members’ needs, and following through on those ideas eventually builds up to establish an engaging team culture. Some things my team has instituted or are still trying out include:

Weekly stand-ups where we show some sort of visual update (rather than just verbal)
Monthly-ish virtual lunch/coffee
Quarterly virtual socials with other teams
Prioritizing in-person meetups at least once or twice a year (ideally more)

James:

Our team does bi-weekly remote happy hours and quarterly events (like Airbnb events and remote escape rooms). We’re planning in person meet-ups for 2022, and I look forward to having the entire team together when that makes sense.

Jay:

Growing a remote design culture has been admittedly pretty challenging given the difference in time zones along and all the other issues that the pandemic brought about. We’re still learning, but we’ve found carving out several times per week just to catch up and chat about projects we’re working on, cool things we’ve found on Dribbble, or even just recent television shows we’ve seen makes doing everything remotely much more manageable.

Brenda:

This is a national topic. From my experience, there are a handful of methods, ranging from close communication, instilling more trust, and forming more partner-work. One main one: designer incentives can be social. I spearhead our Social Committee with a group of designers to put on exciting events for our greater Design team, like remote pottery lessons (yes, it can be done!). These efforts might seem extraneous, but it goes back to my biggest value: high-performing teams consist of people who like each other.

What does your WFH setup look like?

Alicja:

I dedicated a corner of my living room for work. I’m surrounded by books, plants, and sticky notes, which I can’t live without. My favorite part of the whole setup, though, is my office chair. It features a can’t-miss-it cow print, that I improbably fell in love with, and it’s ridiculously comfortable. It’s the perfect writing chair.

Christine:

Here’s a picture from when I first got my standing desk and it was super clean (it would take me too long to clear everything again for another one). Having a standing desk has been key for me to relieve lower back pains!

James:

I’d say my WFH set-up is adequate. I sit at a window with a great view of San Francisco’s Nob Hill and Financial District neighborhoods. However, I’m greatly looking forward to having the option of an office environment — whenever that makes sense.

Jay:

The view out of my window is my old apartment building, which I’m literally looking down on now. (Not pictured: my keyboard lights up and the lights are configurable. It costs more than my monitor).