flâneur

Pournami Pottekat

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on the atlas — 39

highlights — 15

  • I’d like to introduce a concept I call “selfish software.” Selfish software refers to writing code for yourself without any external customers in mind. This practice might sound niche or individualistic, but there’s no need for it to be. Think about building software today. Workflows are contorted to match rigid systems. Pre-built solutions are preferred over new ones, and compromises in functionality are common. There’s a way that things “should” work, and it’s easier to follow these rules than to break them. But this approach is backwards. Software should conform, not the other way around.
    Selfish Software
  • Any information I need to move forward, I will ask for directly. For example, instead of saying, “Do you have ___,” I will ask, “What is/are ___?” When making assumptions, I will voice them and explain why I’m making them. These assumptions will be based on information I’ve gathered from working on similar products or users, ensuring they feel like educated guesses rather than convenient shortcuts. When making choices, I will present interviewers with three options to choose from. This can also be applied to scoping. For instance, I might ask, “Who is our target audience? Option 1, Option 2, o…
    Interviewed for 2 FAANG companies as a Product Designer. AMA : r/UXDesign
  • Setting up a call with my recruiter to get details on what each interview would entail. Taking out my notebook dedicating a page each to my interviewer, stalking them and making whatever notes Im able to (just so i can use some commonality to make conversations in my interviews) Practice design exercises with colleagues/friends/professors/mentors Mock interviews with mentors Writing out my answers (not typing) to build muscle memory of what I want to say and how I want to phrase it. Preparing my 'stories' for behavioral questions. Practicing calming down and thinking before I speak (this was h…
    Interviewed for 2 FAANG companies as a Product Designer. AMA : r/UXDesign
  • All of my answers followed a framework that works for me. Introduce the conflict (what was wrong, what needed your help, what were you assigned, what your work environment is like, etc) Explain what you did What did that result in? How did you take forward the learning of that experience in your current day-to-day? Write out 4-6 "stories" of what's happened in your work life and use those to answer most of your behavioral questions.
    Interviewed for 2 FAANG companies as a Product Designer. AMA : r/UXDesign
  • Do you have any tips for negotiation? Share wildpp • 1y ago Experienced These two videos pretty much cover most of what I learnt https://youtu.be/fyn0CKPuPlA?si=i7k632PjM7Myf2gV https://youtu.be/5pNZw92CCAo?si=A1jCVVQk5bI-QUhA
    Interviewed for 2 FAANG companies as a Product Designer. AMA : r/UXDesign
  • A good rule to have is that you don't want to speak about a project for longer than 10 minutes. If you're doing 2 case studies in an interview make enough time for introductions, questions between the projects and also at the end of the interview. Your case studies should take 20-22 minutes at most. Having too many slides isnt an issue, i personally like spreading out my info but i wont waste too much time on each slide. Pick out the most interesting part of your project. Remember, you're telling them a story - you aren't reporting your timeline of work to your boss. Don't explain your project…
    Interviewed for 2 FAANG companies as a Product Designer. AMA : r/UXDesign
  • wildpp • 1y ago Experienced I had to open up my notes for this one. In a whiteboard challenge always remember to cover 3 main sections on your end - Problem, Approach, and Result. Be cognizant of your time by splitting it up between these 3 sections and running a timer on your whiteboard to keep track. PROBLEM - when you're presented with your challenge, please begin with asking questions. how involved would you like to be in this process? what are the user+business objectives? (Im assuming you'll frame your questions better lol these are just pointers) available metrics past research + data w…
    Interviewed for 2 FAANG companies as a Product Designer. AMA : r/UXDesign
  • Cut short the scope of your case study, while the project you worked on might be huge mention that for today's call you'll be sharing the part of the project that was the most enjoyable for you to work on.
    Interviewed for 2 FAANG companies as a Product Designer. AMA : r/UXDesign
  • The most common ones were about ambiguity, how do you work with developers, what do you think of AI, how did you deal with a problem that was very technical, how do you deal with negative feedback, etc.
    Interviewed for 2 FAANG companies as a Product Designer. AMA : r/UXDesign
  • The way I have approached it - my portfolio case studies have the problem, context of the problem, why the problem was import to solve, what i (or we) did to solve that problem, and what it resulted in. I do not dive into my process but mention parts of it in the sections i mentioned above. I end each case study letting the reader know that there's a lot more to share and they can reach out to me to learn about it. I think this makes sense because most of my projects are protected by NDAs
    Interviewed for 2 FAANG companies as a Product Designer. AMA : r/UXDesign
  • I broke down the aspects of interviewing into multiple different parts that felt important to me, such as technical/design knowledge, case studies, product critique, design challenges, conversation techniques, how to stop myself for speaking too much(my biggest challenge hahah) etc - and then found specific videos on YouTube for each topic and made notes + action items to further prepare. I can make a list of the YouTubers that helped me tremendously and share them on dm. Feel free to shoot me a message! Additionally, I browsed through fishbowl, glassdoor, and blind to see what interviews ques…
    Interviewed for 2 FAANG companies as a Product Designer. AMA : r/UXDesign
  • Here's what works for me - In Medias Res (starting in the middle): begin with the most impactful moment, such as a critical challenge, a breakthrough insight, or the moment your design solved the problem. Then, rewind to explain the context, your process, and how you reached the solution. Think of it this way, your first three sentences while presenting a case study is the trailer to your movie. In the trailer you tell them what the problem was, what the solution or result of that problem was, and end it with the burning question of how was this made possible? Use your next few slides to expla…
    Interviewed for 2 FAANG companies as a Product Designer. AMA : r/UXDesign
  • It sounds like you're not aware of your own thinking process. I would encourage you to take some time to uncover what helps you make decisions. Do you feel more confident when you have all of information available to you? Or do you make assumptions then move forward with your theory to test out your assumptions, fail, and then come back to the drawing board? Once you identify what all it requires for you to make a decision - and this is very subjective to the problem/situation - work towards getting all of those missing pieces. For example, if the interviewer asks you "How would you design a d…
    Interviewed for 2 FAANG companies as a Product Designer. AMA : r/UXDesign
  • Where I see designers not get hired: 1. Not enough real product work - You must show end-to-end ownership of real, shipped work, not just visuals or explorations and show evidence of driving complexity with clarity on your specific contribution. 2. Weak visual craft - UIs that feel dated, generic, or too dependent on a design system. Overly safe, dry, poor hierarchy, alignment and spacing. Elite companies expect sharp, modern taste and confident execution with enough fidelity to show what good looks like. 3. Not enough product sense - Candidates fail not because of visuals, but because they ca…
    Tom Scott (@iamtomscott): "Where I see designers not get hired: 1. Not enough real product work - You must show end-to-end ownership of real, shipped work, not just visuals or explorations and show evidence of driving complexity with clarity on your specific contribution. 2. Weak visual craft - UIs …"
  • A design system is only as good as the change it is capable of facilitating
    Chase McCoy’s portfolio