Interaction Design Foundation Reviews

Clean architecture, supportive development culture, and minimal micromanagement.

The best work culture of all the places I've worked at. Worked with very senior, experienced colleagues (20-25 yrs of experience each). I have spent 20 odd years in UX myself both in academia and in my design practice, so working with other similarly senior folks was great. I learned a lot from others, and also put my own experiences to good use. Even though the editorial team has a lot of senior, experienced perspectives, I always felt heard and valued, and I had ample autonomy over my projects. On the same lines, being in the editorial team meant that I got to work directly with legends in the industry, the likes of Don Norman, Daniel Rosenberg, Alan Dix and more. It was incredibly exciting and humbling. Course production team is very collaborative despite being a remote team. Regular contact with colleagues, but far fewer meetings than I was used to in other places. No need to constantly make presentations to management. I was able to set my own schedule and work with fewer distractions. The company culture values execution and results, so there's a constant move beyond ideation and brainstorming into real action, which is exciting. We didn't just talk about doing stuff, we actually made things happen. The org is pretty flat, and my teammates and I were pretty much free to define what our projects would be. Management was unobtrusive but expects results and progress. Which is fair because the org has to keep costs low for students as part of its non-profit mission, so it's a lot leaner and more careful about its cost centers. I found that no matter what your position is, management expects great things from you but also gives you the space and trust to deliver them.