A day in the life of a product designer at Uber

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Hey friend! Welcome to this day in the life WFH edition! I have tried to be as transparent as possible with you in this video, showing you all the different kind of work I get up to during the day. While I couldn't show you my actual design project work, I talk you through what I'm doing and what the key moments of my day are. Hope it helps you get an idea of what a typical day is like as a product designer :)
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0:00 - Introduction
0:39 - Getting ready for the day
1:19 - Starting my workday
2:14 - User Research Session
3:06 - Breakfast + goals for the day
4:22 - Deep Work design time
5:10 - Product Working Session
6:40 - Lunch + Design Prioritisation Session
7:21 - Quick walk + talk
9:01 - Checkpoint 4 Meeting
9:26 - Design QA'ing
11:44 - End of day wrap up
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[@gvyyuy]

After many “a day in the life of...”, this was the first one that actually provided interesting insights of flows, processes, tools etc.... well done!

[@natoutete]

I second that. Less about "the person", more about "the process".

[@tuyentruong639]

I’m also a product designer and this is definitely a very realistic overview of my day 2 day as well!!! Lots of meetings and slack conversations

[@latinstuff1]

Do you like it ? ;)

[@felipealmeida5187]

Even in the middle of a global pandemic, I felt inspired by your day. Thanks for sharing it! :D

[@XzcutioneR2]

This was very insightful. Unlike yours, most a-day-in-life videos tend to focus on the person's lifestyle rather than the actual work that they do.

[@4TheCreatives]

Thanks for sharing and I agree 10000% about the focus blocks of time. It’s imperative to not be continuously distracted when you are in the creative zone☺️

[@AndyMoon98]

This has been one of the most informative videos I've seen in a while. Very well detailed and it sure gave me a better glimpse into what a product designer does. Thank you so much.

[@elizabethmessina6322]

This was one of the most realistic, thorough DITLs for a designer. So helpful. Thank you!

[@LorettaBangBang]

Hey Femke! Really good video. Finally one that shows the actual work (vs eating lunch and snacks like in other "a day in the life of" videos)

[@greyandpink1]

Thank you so much for sharing your day! I have decided to challenge myself to become a product designer. Your video has helped me a lot to get an idea of what a product designer's daily life look like during this quarantine period. Besides, your cat is just so ADORABLE!

[@cascaII]

Thank you, I am a PD and this is almost exactly how we work as well and finally, I can show my folks what we do (usually)

[@joshhouben1181]

Great vid, thanks for putting it together :) Not a designer yet, about to start a UX/UI bootcamp in a few weeks but I've found the Pomodoro technique super helpful for making the most of my focus blocks. I started with the standard 25mins focus 5 mins break but moved to 50 & 10 as I found I could get into the zone a bit more

[@rosieway5811]

Thanks Femke for your sharing! It’s inspiring and get to know how a project is developed daily! I love your cat ❤️ so cute!!!! It’s a great thing to have your cat sleeping while you’re working 💕then when you take break, you can play with your cat 💕

[@magicle]

So insightful! 😄 I love seeing videos like this-keep them coming!! 🤍

[@AlisonChin]

love the way you organized and narrated this, super interesting and informative!

[@samiulhaquesohan8821]

I am a newbie. Got a random suggestion of this video on my feed yesterday. Now guess what, I have watched 85% videos of your channel just in one night! Really loving your contents. Thanks a lot for making these! You are really amaaaaazing!

[@MsWarriorchick]

Thank you! This is the most realistic day in the life of a designer ive seen thus far on here. Great insight!

[@technosteed4644]

5:35 That water bottle is perfectly aligned.

[@calebsanderson2351]

This was so helpful and affirming. Thank you for your transparency!

[@asif_mojtoba]

*I just found you randomly! This is such an insightful video. Thanks for sharing.*

[@richardottley4611]

Femke I'm a regular listen of your design life podcast.. I just happened to find this video in my usual sometimes occasional rabbit hole on KZbin 😅😅 great job on this video 🙏🏾🙏🏾

[@vyhuynh7230]

thanks a lot! I'm going to have my first interview for the internship position as a product designer. This is super helpful for my preparation :D

[@ruli6045]

Love your video! Thanks for sharing! BTW, really like your liftable desk!!!!

[@HanBang]

We use Dovetail for all of our raw user research notes so love that they're sponsoring this video.. 👀 on the bag of chips on the desk; work snackies are a must have within arm's reach of any work day haha

[@beckwilde]

Really liked this video !! A great insight on what working from home as a designer is like

[@AshishKumar-si6mo]

Very insightful for someone like me who wants to work in the design field. Thank you for this. Keep it up. Love

[@radbit4661]

i love how your cat keeps you company

[@charlimarieTV]

Loooved this video Fem!!

[@elynkuang380]

She is smart

[@elynkuang380]

She is a nice guy

[@benedhk9119]

another well structured contents came from product designer! aside from that i love your aesthetic and your editing style!

[@jakespeakz]

Very in-depth video! Thanks for this!

[@imran__molla]

as always loved your video because you always try real-life problem solutions that were great !! also, another cute mika loved it 💕 all the best to you & Happy Designing keep sharing more awesome videos 💕

[@femkedesign]

Thank you!

[@HelloImAlexa]

Killin it! This was sooooo great.

[@shre9]

You really motivate me to work! ❤️

[@DesignGal]

Great video! It's always interesting to watch another designer's daily work life. 😀

[@manharbhola]

I felt really good and inspired after watching this and i also want to choose a designer oriented career thank you! Love from India

[@VaishnavVharkat]

The video was quite insightful, I loved it!

[@carlosreyes6612]

I love your honesty! I have the same standing desk (from Ikea)

[@SomeUnremarkableGuy]

How do you organize, artboards (frames), pages, layers and of course how do you name them. If you could make video about that. In depth if it is possible :D

[@SomeUnremarkableGuy]

@@femkedesign Thanks :)

[@ikalennyy6986]

Thank you for providing this very insightful video. It made me realize two things: if I had a work schedule like you do I would ruin my health in no time. The second thing is that I don’t think I would like to be a product designer. I wish I could’ve seen this years ago. Your video is golden

[@femkedesign]

Glad my video was helpful! Thanks for watching :)

[@natyb]

Wow, so cool to see how it works in Uber. It quite differs from what I do as UX/UI designer in a smaller company.

[@raghavendraj3758]

I wish you all the best in your future works responsibilities and super explanation.

[@ephelan]

This video made me aware of much I could improve physical movement throughout the work day, even when busy. I try to walk during lunch, but otherwise I struggle to get out of my chair. 😬

[@CarlHeaton]

Awesome video, great thanks ! one thing that inspired me was how you took even 20 mins to go for a walk. I will start using that.

[@praisefabilola]

Had fun watching! Never knew you guys stand while working also, Thanks for the tips on Calendar and Google sheets 🌹🌹🌹

[@praisefabilola]

@@femkedesign oh I'll try adjusting my set up to try that. And I wasn't reffering to you as a guy though lol... I just meant product designers like you. Sorry for the misunderstanding...

[@ammonn9930]

Amazing video! And this cat is to sweet for existence 😍

[@DaveRino]

Great video Femke!

[@TheKondinho]

Just started my new job as a product designer a couple of months ago. It's my first ever job so this is all very insightful. I'm really glad you do a lot of the same stuff I do :) Thank you.

[@ahmedabohay6322]

Could you share your linkedin

[@MIKE-yq1co]

brooo how is it for you now, are you liking it ?? just discoverd about this today and i feel like it relates to me.

[@AndreaEppy]

Oh hey gal! I follow you on twitter and didn't realize you have a YT channel! There's a special place in my heart for fellow designers who are on twitter AND have a YT channel😁

[@Lnetta2Lteezy]

Haha when you said 3-4 hours of meetings per day, i felt that! I have a pretty similar day as a product designer, standup daily, product sync, and various other meetings and user testing sessions. I too am trying to figure out the balance of it all to be most productive, will update you if I figure it out 😆💕

[@Lnetta2Lteezy]

@@femkedesign it is! I realize this more and more everyday!

[@inspiredesignz]

Very informative, keep them coming 👍

[@RoyPetrie]

Great vid! And aweesome work ui designer

[@MarkYaasi]

Great video, it provides a lot insight

[@gomezbakwene887]

Thanks so much, really appreciate it

[@maxxthedesigner]

I appreciate the insights.

[@nizamilputra]

Loved it! Thanks for sharing Fem! I have a question, so when do you working on side project?

Your background image feels like home :)

[@ruth8014]

I'm starting in a new job, this was definitely useful. Nice info and video, going to check more of your videos! 😉

[@ruth8014]

@@femkedesign Thanks! And indeed as your video my day started with 3 meetings. My camera stopped working for a while, but everything is going well so far 😄.

[@rotienoxoxo]

This was really well done. Thank you! I am deciding on grad schools for UX. This is super exciting/inspiring!

[@rotienoxoxo]

@@femkedesign thank you!!

[@PureToneMusic]

You might be able to get a job in the industry and gain the real world experience rather than spending more money on college. I didn't even graduate with my bachelor's and I'm working on projects for Amazon, Microsoft, T-Mobile, AT&T, etc. Just something to consider instead of additional college debt.

[@michaeltretiak5950]

Please do a video on the checkpoint system if you can!

[@GHOST-xj1in]

The best "a day in the life..." Video !!

[@femkedesign]

Cheers ✌️

[@brainfood20]

Thank you so much for your day in a life

[@femkedesign]

You're welcome Dyon!

[@Figma55]

All those meetings and no caffeine? More power to you! Fascinating to see how other designers at home day-to-day. Mine has way more distractions ;)

[@ItsCarleaJean]

love! subbed!

[@femkedesign]

Thanks for subbing!

[@vlahman_]

extremely useful, thank you very much!

[@femkedesign]

You're welcome!

[@nicolasimagine]

Hi Femke, could you do a video talking about the QA process in depth? Like, when you are reviewing the engineer's work, how do you send your feedback? And how does that whole tracking work? Thanks! Big fan from Colombia.

[@akashchoudhary5736]

Product designer's day is full of meetings !!

[@ajeyasharma26]

This is so cool 🤩💫

[@femkedesign]

Thanks!

[@RafaelHEscobar]

Nice content here! Your workflow is very similar to mine. The only thing that for me is a no-no is to have lunch in front of the computer. I really like to taste the flavours of the food I cook and personally love the idea of sitting elsewhere, and besides, I discovered that after eating without distractions tend to feel less hungry during the rest of the day.

[@boacmusic]

Great video, thanks for the look into your day. I'm a UX designer working for a mid-size design agency in San Francisco and my tasks for a typical work day are virtually identical. I take part in the entire lifecycle from project brief to shipped product. I feel like our roles are the same, except in title. Would you say UX and product are interchangeable roles or do you see them as different?

[@KabbaModern03]

Digital Designer and photographer here, my struggle is getting up and taking breaks. Get thrown so many projects. From animations, social media designs, UI designs to doing photography stuff.

[@parkerrex]

Hey Femke - that 8:00 walk and chat is SO true for new designers. New subscriber gained. Really enjoyed this video. I work in tech too.. Finding fellow tech youtubers is refreshing 😀

[@parkerrex]

Also - tell me about the mouse you have?

[@parkerrex]

Femke / Design KZbinr I thought I recognized it! I got the Mx master 2s recently. Do you ever experience connection issues or is it all love for the mouse?

[@swissarmykits7182]

I loved your setup 😍, What monitor is that?

[@mr_cupcakes1808]

Hi, Femke! If you want to you could try to extract the pulp of the kiwi with a spoon after cutting it in half. You might be surprised with the results

[@DearThomas]

Hey Femke, great video! I'm curious, can you point to anywhere I can read more about the checkpoints you have throughout the development process in Uber? I work as a product designer in a startup, we do something similar ish a bit adhoc and would love to have it a bit more formalised + see if we can learn something new :) Thanks!

[@makaritoblues2]

thanks for sharing!

[@sidtorres5099]

Curious to know how many times a week will you have user research sessions? And is it always first thing in the morning? Also, what are your tasks as a product designer during the research session (since you have a dedicated UX researcher)? Loved the vid 🤘

[@Routtuqe]

Your day looks similar to my job, but because I start work as UI Designer in small company, I'm at first UX/UI, next UI now someone who are UI/Product Designer I guess. We have every day at 9:30 am virtual meeting it's great starting point in job, next I have next conference to 10:30-11, preparing stuff, ending small things or do job at chill to 12:30-13, lunch and start deep work form 14 to 16, little pause to 17 and next 17-18 deep work. Sometimes at quarantine hard has discipline and I don't wort after first meeting, start afternoon or doing things at 20-22 pm but walking and riding on bike helps me doing things in right time. At first I don't like quarantine because destroy my all routine, but now I love it, I have more time (spend 2 and half hour in the bus), more chill and what's most important I can work fully in my way and it's rock for creativity and my efficiency.

[@LateNightCruisers]

What’s school did you go for ux/ui design?

[@robsondssilva]

Thanks for video, thanks for share a lot information about his day workday. Obviously there is classified information but, is this enough to get an idea of what it's like to work at Uber. A lot of meeting and daily! :D Great! Thanks, Femke!

[@robsondssilva]

@@femkedesign Thanks for the correction! :D My Portuguese keyboard always has the broker enabled. Hehehehehe

[@MaxWeir]

When your reviewing your designs after they come back from development how different are they and what things usually tend not to the design you created? Would they be following the actual Airbnb design system spec and guidelines so everything is consistent.

[@PureToneMusic]

I'm a UI/UX designer for a company called Zoovu. We build ai-based digital assistants for companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Whirlpool, Kitchenaid, Maytag, Bed Bath & Beyond, Trek Bikes, Canon, and a bunch of others. I'd love to start making videos like this, I just need to find things that are exciting enough to talk about without discussing confidential stuff.

[@leoratzlaff]

Hey Femke, great content! How do you keep track of your tasks?

[@martinmn3667]

Great Video, thanks for sharing your experiences.... my best from Perú!

[@femkedesign]

Thanks for watching!

[@m1y912]

An off-topic question, I love your mouse! Would you recommend the brand? Thanks Femke!

[@amiramini2546]

have you ever tried blending the kiwi with the peel? can’t rly taste it and saves time plus fibre etc. same goes for strawberry leaves

[@brittneyswinton]

The checkpoints sound like a really good idea to keep each team up to date! What are the 4 checkpoints that you use?

[@mateusznawrot8941]

Hey, great video! Is that Bekant standing desk from Ikea?

[@alexmaslii9779]

Hey! Nice video, one more question. Do you use scenario for Personas or Jobs To Be Done?

[@mahdhashemi]

Hi thanks for your insightful video. Im also a designer. Im looking for some pest practices on the structure of a design team or the proceses that makes the final approved design(chekins within the design team and the lead designer). I would be happy to hear your advices.

[@shamramachandran]

Hey, it sure was interesting to watch a day of yours. Can you please tell me why you work on Figma and not in Sketch or XD? Thanks.

[@dyziplen.]

This is absolutely wonderful, would love a follow-up if anythings changed a year or so down the line!

[@femkedesign]

Yeah! For starters I'm at a different company now :) Will keep this in mind for a future vid.

[@esjsung8713]

which monitor do you use? great video btw!

[@ThiagoRamosal]

Hi, Femke. I am curious, which monitor is this that you are using? Could you share the model? Thanks. Love this video.

[@laxxai]

Lovely video, could you share how you use uber`s design system? And maybe touch upon how it helps you stay consistent with your team especially now when everyone works from home. Thanks. - from me, friend.

[@rominav20]

Thanks for your video!! I realize that your day is similar to mine. Can't say that I'm officially a product designer (role position) but somewhere between in UX/UI - product design, and I relief that I'm not alone in that feeling of "many session" per day to define new products/status, etc. I was wondering how many projects you work at the same time? Actually, I'm dealing with be assign in at least 4 projects (definition stage) and lead a design team. It is a kind of challenge for me.

[@rominav20]

@@femkedesign Thanks for answer!

[@richard-social8125]

cranking that desk like the engine is about to fire up😂😂😂

[@leeonn-]

I'm curious what you set your status in Slack to when you're in distraction-free mode

[@LuckyLaxadhish0]

Almost same! Nice video :)

[@Emkelartworld]

Love it a product designer

[@drixponteres8829]

Hi Femke! I'm curious to what specific responsibilities should a product designer should have. Currently, I do UI Design, Research, Code, Graphic Design, and do leadership stuff as well - being a team lead.

[@samoda]

Could you elaborate on Checkpoints? What is Checkpoint 1,2,3,4 and the structure of each?

[@Andokato]

How did you open up Google Calendar where it looks like a desktop application?