Adam Glynn-Finnegan has spent most of his career designing exceptional user experiences\u2014including for Airbnb and Netflix. In this exclusive interview with Gareth Dunlop, he shares how he got to his current position, the most valuable learnings from his career so far, and what separates great designers from good ones.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
Adam Glynn-Finnegan\u2019s career highlights:<\/b><\/p>\n Interview themes at a glance:<\/b><\/p>\n Adam Glynn-Finnegan started his career in design agencies, working in Flash and Dreamweaver to design online campaigns. After a variety of projects in web, graphic, and motion design, he started his own agency which he ran for about three years.<\/span><\/p>\n Then came Adam\u2019s first foray into the world of tech and Silicon Valley. He joined note-taking app Evernote as a remote employee, responsible for brand, marketing, and the dot-com international websites. After a few years as Principal Brand Designer, he then transitioned into a lead product design role\u2014a move that opened up new opportunities and ultimately set the stage for a fascinating career to come.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [GET CERTIFIED IN UX]<\/p>\n Take our Professional Diploma in UX Design course<\/span>\n <\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n After Evernote, Adam moved across to Airbnb. He joined the startup during a period of rapid growth where \u201ceverything was happening at a million miles an hour.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n With a team of 30 designers and about 5 researchers, he worked on a variety of pivotal projects\u2014including leading the design of Airbnb\u2019s original design system, an internal tooling design system, search and discovery (focused on homepage listings for potential guests), and trust and safety.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Airbnb\u2019s approach was rather unique in how it deconstructed the design process into <\/span>problems to be solved <\/span><\/i>across different domains like search, discovery, and security. Adam recalls how working in such an environment required a careful balance between laser-sharp focus and respect for the greater vision.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n So how did it work\u2014and how can it work for others looking to follow a similar process?<\/span><\/p>\n [GET CERTIFIED IN UX]<\/p>\n Take our Professional Diploma in UX Design course<\/span>\n <\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n About a year after leaving Airbnb, Adam joined the design team at Netflix Studio\u2014the division responsible for producing the content on Netflix. In his current role as Staff Product Designer, Adam works on the suite of products used by content producers, with a focus on metadata, AI, personalisation, and matching.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n There are some interesting parallels to be drawn between Adam\u2019s work at Airbnb and his current role at Netflix. Both products require designing for \u201csearch and discovery\u201d, and both have two distinct user types: those who know exactly what they want, and those who want to be inspired or surprised.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n One platform is about matching guests with their ideal holiday home; the other is about providing the user with viewing suggestions that best meet their needs and preferences at a given moment in time. Regardless of these differences, the process of designing those experiences focuses on:<\/span><\/p>\n Personalisation, of course, plays a critical role. Without it, platforms like Airbnb, Netflix, and Spotify wouldn\u2019t be half as engaging and enjoyable. So how does Netflix do it? What\u2019s the secret to going beyond simple audience segmentation to game-changing personalisation?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The key ingredients, Adam explains, are choice, flexibility, user tools, and the seamless blending of content and UI:<\/span><\/p>\n Our job is to tailor the experience in a personalised way while also being flexible for that surprise element. Everyone consumes the content differently, and we need to present options to offer you choice. When we understand the content at a granular level, we can offer up titles inside interesting collections. We uncover the essence of each show, beyond just genre\u2014the tone, the plot, the storyline, the origins, the setting, the talent\u2014and these all inform how we display the show to you.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n It\u2019s almost impossible to separate content from UI within Netflix. The UI is often seamless, focused on removing friction and letting people watch the way they want to watch. The concept of bingeing, the \u201cSkip Intro\u201d button, comes from that mindset, giving members the tools to enjoy shows in the way they like to. That\u2019s also personalisation. We give members the tools to give feedback so they can actively participate in telling us what they love.<\/p>\n When talking about Adam\u2019s role at Netflix, it\u2019s important to distinguish between the two arms of experience design (XD) at the company: Streaming, which focuses on the experience of Netflix subscribers (i.e. viewers), and Studio, which focuses on the experience of content producers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Adam explains how, despite the teams being split, the two sides are closely coupled\u2014with content being the link that connects the two:<\/span><\/p>\n The Studio team sees the content during a different phase of its life. We work early with a production, absorbing a script from a very early stage, so that by the time the show is finished and launches, we know everything about it and how it evolved. The tools we design empower our users (content producers) to build rich metadata at scale across many titles. That metadata, in turn, empowers our colleagues in content to make editorial, marketing, and personalisation decisions, all based on that foundation of high-quality metadata.<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n While two distinct teams working in synergy may be the ideal, achieving that in reality can be extremely challenging. Adam cites several key tools, processes, and practices that help to unify the Studio and Steaming teams at Netflix:<\/span><\/p>\n Adam is certainly making his mark on the design industry\u2014but what exactly is it that drives success in his role? What qualities separate great designers from good ones?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As a designer, I think it\u2019s really important to be pragmatic and flexible. I shudder when I see posts online which say \u2018Designers should do X,Y,Z\u2026\u2019 A lot of these success tips aren\u2019t grounded in reality. It\u2019s like, okay, now try making that glossy mockup work in a global organisation when you\u2019re designing for 62 languages, designing for accessibility, designing for skilled professional users, or designing across a two-sided marketplace. I\u2019m passionate about designers having a high level of craft and producing amazing work. I\u2019ve found that being flexible is crucial in companies that are moving so fast. It means sometimes you need to write the brief, you need to present the slide deck, do your own research to understand your users and find ways to seek feedback on your work. It\u2019s key not to be precious or stick to the job description.<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Interview conducted by: Gareth Dunlop, consultant, speaker and writer on UX design leadership. For 25 years Gareth has founded, led, grown and sold digital agencies. He currently speaks, writes and consults on innovation and UX design leadership.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n
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<\/a>From branding and marketing to product design: where it all began<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/a>The Airbnb years: metrics are useful but storytelling is key<\/h2>\n
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<\/a>From Airbnb to Netflix: going beyond audience segmentation to powerful personalisation<\/h2>\n
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<\/a>Facilitating teamwork across studio and streaming: a culture of curiosity, WAYWO, and a design system named Hawkins<\/h2>\n
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<\/a>Defining and driving success: what separates great designers from good ones?<\/h2>\n