Dropbox Design

After a social hiatus, we’re back 👋 We believe time away, taking a break and leaving us with some blank spaces provides new opportunities — so why not take this approach here as well 🙂 Focusing on our craft while working remotely allowed us to ask ourselves — what opportunities do we have, what can be built over here? How can we showcase the details behind our work, and celebrate the craft and our amazing team? Being a Virtual First company means we work primarily remotely, but in-person connection, and connection to our community, are still crucial elements of how we work. We’ll be using this as a space to share more of our unique processes of working, and what makes us tick 🧠 #dropboxdesign

Say hi to Skye Zhang, Staff Product Designer at Dropbox 👋 As well as being a brilliant ceramicist, Skye focuses on leading design strategy and crafting valuable new experiences. She works to connect the dots across customer experience to improve the quality of what we put in our customers' hands. What lights Skye up outside of work? 💡 📚 The Architecture of Happiness by Alain de Botton 🎶 An Insatiable High by Masayoshi Takanaka 🎙️Ologies Podcast by Alie Ward #VirtualFirst

As the old saying goes: when one tab closes, another 12 open.

In a creative rut? Check out our “Monday Micro Brief” stories highlight for some new inspiration to spark your creativity and overcome that mental block 💡

Out: “So, where are you based?” In: “How many holes does a straw have: 1, 2, or none?”

Ever wondered what a creative’s work-from-home day looks like? 🌸🌳✏️ Finding mindful moments between admin, deep work, and Zoom calls makes for a well-balanced (and sunny) day in Seattle for our Illustrator, Fanny Luor. Non-negotiables: Morning coffee and an afternoon treat, of course. Thanks for bringing us along, Fanny! #DayInTheLife #Creative

Five years on, and Liz Gilmore’s life looks completely different — both in and out of the office. As the Head of Brand Studio, she spends more time curating ace teams than she does in Figma. But it means she gets to champion her team’s ideas (and risks). 🌤️ Wake up call: “The rapid footsteps of my 6 year old son about to jump into my bed. I spend the mornings feeding my family (sometimes they feed me).” 🎧 Pre-work vibe check: “I bike or walk our son to Kindergarten and set the tone before the work day starts. This usually involves some type of domestic flow state with a podcast or vibey playlist blasting, and some aggressive dishwashing, vacuuming, or LEGO tidying.” ☕️ Morning ritual: “Since I live in Chicago, I have a very heads-down morning where I can catch up and really focus.” 💬 How I lead: “It’s important for me to not only make decisions but influence others to make the (right) decisions so I’m not a blocker.” ⬆️ How I grow: “It’s always going to be a bumpy road to grow in different ways, but growth is supposed to be uncomfortable. I’m definitely a better creative leader than I was 5 years ago.”

What does our Research Program Manager, Allison, get up to in a day? 👀 Allison runs our Customer Coffee Chats program, connecting Dropbox employees with real users for casual but insightful conversations. Thanks for letting us tag along ✨ #DayInTheLife

Essentials for a creative life: ✅ The desire to make cool stuff ✅ A sense of curiosity, intrigue, and wonder ✅ A chair with good back support

How does where we’ve been inform where we’re going? 💭 At this year’s Dropbox Design Summit, we had the privilege of seeing our Studio Strategy Director, Alexandra Brown, in a deeply personal and insightful conversation with acclaimed food writer and producer Stephen Satterfield, examining the importance of heritage and horizons. They taught us that to move forward, we must understand where we come from and that our stories are powerful.

✨ Still thinking about our wonderful Design Summit guest speakers, and how each of these artists left us with something to carry forward… 💬 Artist and author Adam JK reminded us that staying curious about our voice matters more than chasing external success. 🎨 Artists Brooke Pickett & Kasimu Harris held space for the discomfort of making. Showing us that curiosity is often the beginning of better questions. Over that week in New Orleans, we soaked up an abundance of new, curious, and creative energy. Along with a renewed sense of community, the team left feeling full of inspiration and fresh ideas 💡

Dropbox was born out of frustration with clunky, unreliable file-sharing 🗂️ We have a heritage of simplicity and innovation, but how do we keep that magic alive as we evolve? ✨ Speaking at this year’s Design Summit, Kerri Willette and Maria Everton offered up a pragmatic approach to fighting stagnation. They urged us not to forget the role we play in creating and maintaining a playground for our curiosity in order to keep evolving and make the right decisions.