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A year ago, I found some evidence that UX — and UX Research, in particular — may have been disproportionately impacted by layoffs. Since then, many companies have had further reductions in force. It’s fair to say that most UX professionals have either been personally affected or know colleagues who have. It’s a discouraging time. Many of us are looking for direction and explanations. Some of you have even reached out to me hoping to find some clarity. I’ll be the first to admit that I don…

There’s been a lot of talk recently about the fact that AirBnB is getting rid of product managers, and the doomsayers are suggesting that it’s the beginning of the end for Product Management, and that no one really needs product managers after all. What Brian actually said (at the Figma conference for designers, starting here — https://youtu.be/Dkfijg7s76o?t=645) was that at AirBnB “the designers are equal to the product managers,” before stating that AirBnB had “gotten rid of the classic…

About Me: I bring experience as a Senior Solutions Architect at Amazon Web Services (AWS), where I’ve had the privilege of conducting over 80 technical interviews. In this article, I’ll unveil the common question types that frequently appear in Amazon’s Cloud Engineer interviews. As an AWS Cloud Engineer, you’re expected to not only possess deep technical knowledge but also the ability to apply that knowledge to real-world situations. To help you prepare for challenging AWS Cloud Engine…

APIs (or Application Programming Interfaces) have become the backbone of modern software development. They allow different applications and systems to communicate with each other, enabling seamless data exchange and functionality integration. However, managing and securing these APIs can be a daunting task. This is where API Gateways come into play, serving as the concierge-like gatekeepers and facilitators of these communication channels. In this article, we will dive deep into their wor…

Motivation If you have ever visualized your data (which I am sure you have), the first plot type that possibly came to your mind was either a scatter, bar, or line plot. While these plots do cover a wide variety of visualization use cases, I have seen many data scientists using them excessively in every possible place. Although they are simple and easy to interpret, they are not the right choice to cover every possible use case. Therefore, in this blog, I will demonstrate a few alte…

My name is Benoit. I have been a software engineer for the past eight and a half years. I stayed at my previous (and first) company for seven and a half years, then I joined a new one in early 2022. This article comes from a recent self-reflection on the things I wish I had started doing earlier in my career and the things I wish I had done differently. What I am sharing here may be useful to any junior to mid-level developer who wishes to improve and progress toward the title of senior…

Pretty unsurprising for today’s data-driven era, the role of a data scientist has evolved into one of the most coveted positions in the job market. What qualities and data science skills do companies seek in candidates? This is quickly answered by the image below. Skill #1: Strong Analytical Skills This one’s pretty obvious! In this case, I don’t mean being good at programming or coding. What I mean is being analytical. It means dissecting problems, approaching them methodically and l…

Hi, I’m Priscilla — a data scientist, previously at Yelp, now at TikTok. I participated in Meta Data Science, Analytics interview process in the past recruiting cycle. Once you pass the recruiter phone screening, the first technical screen is designed to test your technical aptitude in 45 minutes. This is the critical round that will determine whether or not you move forward to an onsite. In this article, I will provide a handy cheat sheet with frameworks and examples for your upcoming …

At Meta, senior individual contributors (ICs) are an important part of how we think about growing careers and building effective organizations in data science and data engineering. Senior ICs have made major contributions in analytics, including on past topics we’ve covered in this blog: Sending fewer notifications, to improve user experience and visitation Extending product-market fit measurement and data frameworks across the company Using experimentation meta-analysis to under…

Guilt is a negative feeling that causes more harm to your soul than that of the mistake. And when it comes to the guilt of cheating your partner, it will never end. But like all other negative emotions, it’s a kind of low-frequency energy that can neither be created nor destroyed. You can convert it from low to high, from negative to positive. So, there’s no reason to keep it until death and limit your life to a single event. The main question here is “How”? This article will disc…

In this age of science, many people see supernatural forces as illusions rooted in wishful thinking. But love remains a profound exception to humanity’s trend toward rationality. People are used to seeing romantic love presented as it is on the reality show “The Bachelor” — as a force cosmically bound to one’s destiny. It’s an idea that is at once laughable and uncannily relatable for anyone who has been in love and felt their pairing compellingly “meant to be.” Our research suggests that…

It can be easy to feel so bogged down with energy-draining problems in your relationship that you completely lose touch with how you feel. Sometimes marriage can feel like an endless babysitting gig with “that person you use to date”, and your only hope is to stick it out to the end. But deep down, you know it’s actually way more than that! It’s about connection, growth, and becoming the ultimate versions of yourselves. Imagine connecting with your spouse on a level so deep that it’s …

Most people never realize this. And eventually they quit the game without making any effort to persist and build discipline in their life. That’s the reason why only a FEW PEOPLE are able to reach the TOP of the world. Because they control their lives. By sticking to that discipline. Success doesn’t care about your feelings That could be hard hitting to you. Success only cares about you showing up to work every single day. Nothing else. The average individual thinks they need any …

Rising food costs are a concern for most households these days. How to save money on healthy vegan food? I propose a strategy that goes deeper than perusing flyers. Warning: mindset shifts ahead. Ask where your (food) money going How much of your money are you spending at grocery stores (and which ones), how much at the restaurant, and how much on coffee and treats at the drive-through? Tracking my family’s expenses systematically has transformed my life and I bet it will transform yo…

Salary and anything related to money is a sensitive topic for most people. Especially in tech and UX design, where most of us are in it for the money, we generally feel like shit if we’re not earning the same, or more than your next door neighbour. When I told my parents I was going to be a designer, they looked at me in horror and thought, “Oh no, our daughter is going to end up broke.”. Fast forward to today, one of my cousins said that she wanted to transition to be a UX designer, …

When I reached the ripe age of 20, I made a bold decision to become a millionaire, despite being born into humble beginnings. But let me tell you, making such a decision was only the first step on a long and winding road to wealth. I knew that if I truly wanted to achieve financial success, I would have to make some serious sacrifices along the way. And let me tell you, it was no easy feat. But in the end, it was all worth it. In this story, I’m going to share with you the 10 things I h…