# Julie Zhuo Julie Zhuo is a product design executive and author who served as Vice President of Product Design at Facebook (now Meta) from 2006 to 2020. She joined Facebook as one of its first product designers when the company had just 50 employees and built the design team to over 1,000 designers. Her 2019 book *The Making of a Manager* has become a widely-read guide for new managers, distilling lessons from her experience leading teams at one of the world's most influential tech companies. Zhuo studied computer science at Stanford before discovering her passion for design at Facebook. She became known for her thoughtful writing on design, leadership, and career growth through her blog "The Year of the Looking Glass." After leaving Meta in 2020, she co-founded Sundial, a startup focused on improving meetings and team productivity. Her influence extends beyond Facebook's design culture to the broader product design community, where she's helped define what it means to lead design at scale in technology companies. ## Key Contributions | Contribution | Significance | |--------------|--------------| | **Built Facebook design team** | 1 to 1,000+ designers | | **The Making of a Manager** | Influential management book | | **The Year of the Looking Glass** | Popular design/leadership blog | | **News Feed redesign** | Major Facebook product work | | **Design culture** | Shaped how design works at scale | ## Facebook Design Milestones | Year | Achievement | |------|-------------| | 2006 | Joined as early designer | | 2007 | News Feed design work | | 2010 | Led design teams | | 2014 | VP of Product Design | | 2016 | Grew team to 500+ | | 2020 | Left after 14 years | ## The Making of a Manager (2019) ``` ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ THE MAKING OF A MANAGER - Key Themes │ ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ │ │ What is management? │ │ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ "The job of a manager is to get better outcomes │ │ │ │ from a group of people working together." │ │ │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ │ │ │ Core responsibilities: │ │ • PURPOSE: Ensure team knows why their work matters │ │ • PEOPLE: Build a team that works well together │ │ • PROCESS: Establish systems for execution │ │ │ │ Key skills: │ │ • Giving feedback │ │ • Running meetings │ │ • Hiring well │ │ • Making decisions │ │ • Building trust │ │ │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ``` ## Management Philosophy | Principle | Description | |-----------|-------------| | **Outcomes over output** | Focus on results, not activity | | **Trust as foundation** | Build psychological safety | | **Feedback is a gift** | Regular, specific, actionable | | **Context over control** | Share why, not just what | | **Hire for trajectory** | Potential matters more than experience | ## Career Timeline | Year | Event | |------|-------| | ~2005 | Stanford CS degree | | 2006 | Joined Facebook (~50 employees) | | 2007 | Became design manager at 24 | | 2014 | VP of Product Design | | 2019 | *The Making of a Manager* published | | 2020 | Left Meta | | 2021 | Co-founded Sundial | ## Design at Scale Lessons | Challenge | Approach | |-----------|----------| | **Consistency** | Design systems, shared principles | | **Quality** | Hiring bar, critique culture | | **Speed** | Empowered teams, clear goals | | **Culture** | Values, rituals, communication | | **Growth** | Career ladders, mentorship | ## Writing and Speaking | Platform | Topic | |----------|-------| | **Blog** | Design leadership, management | | **Medium** | Career growth, tech culture | | **Conferences** | Design at scale | | **Podcasts** | Management, product design | ## Sundial (2021-present) | Focus | Description | |-------|-------------| | **Mission** | Improve how teams work together | | **Product** | Meeting and collaboration tools | | **Role** | Co-founder | ## Quotes <!-- QueryToSerialize: LIST FROM #type/quote AND [[Julie Zhuo]] WHERE public_note = true SORT file.name ASC --> ## Books <!-- QueryToSerialize: LIST FROM #type/book AND [[Julie Zhuo]] WHERE public_note = true SORT file.name ASC --> ## References - Zhuo, J. (2019). *The Making of a Manager* - https://www.juliezhuo.com/ - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Zhuo ## Related - [[Product Design]] - [[User Experience (UX)]]