Hi httpie
I’m very interested in the role of Senior Product Designer — DevTools and joining httpie's team. I've dedicated most of my career to empowering teams and individuals to create, share and collaborate on the Web, and a big focus of my work has been working on developer and open source tools.
You can view my resume here, but I want to highlight my experience relevant to this role and which makes me a great candidate to join httpie's team:
Fog Creek Software: For over 4 years I led design for FogBugz, a very opinionated bug tracker that helped software teams make better software. I helped conceive and launch new features while modernizing the product's UI.
Personal side project: I conceived and designed an iOS app that helps you track health-related events for you and your loved ones (or pets!). You can view the case study here.
Automattic: I spent most of my time working on the WordPress open source project and collaborating closely with the community. I focused on designing and launching new features that met accessibility standards.
Parabol: I helped agile software teams bring more meaning to work by bringing structure to their agile meetings and ceremonies. A highlight of my time there was conceiving and launching a new standup tool that customers actually love to use.
You can view more of my portfolio here, where you'll find a few design case studies, as well as some pieces of writing that expand on how I think about the design craft.
Lastly, I also want to highlight some key points that describe how I approach my work and what I value as a member of a design team, in no particular order:
I thrive in cross-functional teams: Alignment and collaboration across different areas and functions is paramount for successful project outcomes. I seek to work closely with engineers, PMs, marketers, researchers, and customer support specialists to produce better results.
I always start from a place of curiosity and empathy: This is what feeds innovation and in my opinion two of the most important qualities a designer should nurture. I embrace the fact that the tools and experiences we create will be used by people, most of whom have a very diverse set of goals, abilities and expectations.
I believe in experimentation and rapid iteration: A design is never done until iteration and validation have proven a successful solution. I define and scope design work to lead my team to a more efficient execution and learning loop.
I care deeply about design craft and delivery: I work closely with my design peers, engineers and PMs to guarantee that our work meets quality standards, is aligned to strategy, and can be implemented efficiently.
I validate assumptions through research and data: I trust my experience and intuition, but I also always determine the kind of research and validation methods needed to test theories and ideas.
Helping others and lifting-up teammates is part of my job: I find immense satisfaction in helping my teammates do their best work and I like to give back by providing guidance and mentoring to those more junior than me.
I value a healthy design function: In my years contributing to design teams of all shapes and sizes, I’ve learned that trust, awareness and collaboration are key to building a healthy design team. I ensure that everyone on my team understands and is aligned to company strategy, and that they have the necessary support, direction and feedback needed to accomplish our team’s goals.
Company culture is very important to me: I like to actively contribute and help nurture the culture of my team, and find ways to bring everyone closer together. Relationships are important and have a significant impact on how we work, and ultimately on how we serve our customers.
Thank you for your time and I really hope you consider my application. I look forward to hearing back from you.
— Enrique