I was a product design intern at Meta Reality Labs during the Summer of 2022. I primarily worked on the social and messaging experiences in VR, but I also contributed to the illustration library and created designs for the companion mobile app. I was lucky to have the opportunity to work out of the Los Angeles office, which I firmly believe has the best food of any Meta office!
The primary feature that I designed was message requests within VR, which previously did not exist. I collaborated with designers from Instagram and Messenger, who had done a lot of research around the idea of trust and, to be blunt, talking to strangers online. I worked hard to create a message request experience that allows for people to connect more permanently and tangibly after meeting in VR, while maintaining strong safety principles. This feature officially shipped in June 2023!!
Learnings & Reflections
User empathy above all —
The experience I created involved socialization between users who might not know each other in real life. I worked hard to ensure the experience I was designing prioritized user safety, pulling from research done in the organization and pushing for robust safeguards.
Involve others early and often —
I worked closely and frequently with my amazing partners in engineering, research, and other product areas. I'm proud of how I was able to open clear lines of communication and maintain efficient processes.
Feedback is a gift —
I probably heard this phrase a dozen times a week, encouraging me to present in critiques as much as possible — I learned so much from all of the brilliant designers both inside and outside of my team. I also ensured my designs were seen by users before shipping by setting up, conducting, and synthesizing a user test that was originally thought to be out of scope.
Sorry, this work is under NDA!
If you'd like to learn more about my work and experiences at Meta, please contact me! I'd love to chat with you, and I'm often told I respond scarily fast.
e-mail me