Our Principles

Clear guiding principles are the best way to keep our teams aligned.

Principles are a way of encoding success, helping to repeat the behaviors that led to positive outcomes and avoid the behaviors that led to mistakes.

Product Principles

Product principles are fundamental in everything we do.

1. Start with the problem

Start by deeply understanding the problem we’re trying to solve. Continuously evolve this understanding, and return to it to ensure you haven’t veered off course.

2. Think big, start small, learn fast

Think ambitiously, but know that big things have small beginnings. Always try to find the smallest coherent solution. Starting small enables you to ship sooner. Find a way to quickly learn whether or not you’ve solved the problem.

3. Ship fast, ship early, ship often

Shipping is our heartbeat. It brings life to our team, to our product, and to our customers. Challenge yourselves on how to move faster from idea to customer.

4. Deliver outcomes

Shipping is the beginning, not the end. Plan to iterate, fight for adoption, and keep pushing to have customer and business impact.

Design Principles

Design principles help us make decisions when faced with competing options that seem valuable along different dimensions.

1. Modular systems

We follow established best practices, favor modular systems, and avoid non-standard design patterns and one-off components.

2. Less but better

We favor simplicity and avoid complicated, superficial forms that lack a clear purpose.

3. Progressively powerful

We optimize our designs to feel simple by default, yet progressively reveal power, flexibility, and sophistication.

4. Professionally personable

We design for real people, not entries in a database. Our designs are subtly expressive, appropriately interactive, and always honest.

5. Accessible to all

We design user experiences for all ability levels and build products that anyone can use and enjoy.

6. Mise en place

A place for everything and everything in its place.

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