Preston Smalley

I recently was invited to speak at P&G headquarters in Ohio on “Why Design Matters”. It was a leadership summit of their Global Business Services division which supports all the brands and employees worldwide. For me it was a great chance to reflect on what aspects I see as critical to design and what can get in the way.

Here are the slides. I plan on adding the audio slidecast soon.
UPDATE 6/15: Slidecast now available.

I’ve decided to wrap up 7 great years at eBay and will be leaving in a couple weeks. I’m proud of the design team I’ve built there and wish them and all my colleagues the very best as the eBay Marketplace completes the turnaround that’s well underway. Since finishing my MBA I’ve been interested in making a more formal transition to product management as well as building experience within a smaller organization.

I’m joining an old friend of mine, Justin Miller, who’s now CEO at Plaxo, to head up the Product Management team as it’s Senior Director. I’m looking forward to joining the leadership team to focus on the renewed vision of building a truly smart, socially-aware, and pervasive address book.

UPDATE 4/30: I’m hiring a Product Manager to head up Plaxo’s growth areas (Position filled) and there is also an opening for a lead designer. If you or anyone you know is interested in hearing more, let me know.

Recent April Techcrunch interview on the future of Plaxo:

As a product design guy, I try out a lot of iPhone apps however the list of apps I actually use everyday is quite small. To keep things interesting I’ll skip built-in apps like Mail, Phone, and Calendar to focus on 3rd Party apps (especially appropriate as most expect Apple to hit the 1 billion downloaded milestone today).

1. Facebook App - I find the user experience better than the web version as it seems to get at the essence of enabling me to keep up with what’s going on in my friends lives. It avoids all apps, advertising, and modes that plague the web version.
   What’s missing: Enabling me to phone my friends, sync with my phone contacts, and the ability to leverage my location to find my friends.
2. New York Times App - First, I’m a NYT junkie and I love that I can get my fix while on the go. They’ve done a great job extending the NYT brand into the app and formating the stories for the form factor.
   What’s missing: After several updates it’s still far too unstable. With OS 3.0 I hope they enable the day’s stories to be pushed down to my phone everyday at 5AM–it’s charging and on wi-fi, why not? Finally, I’d like to be able to tweet stories directly from the app.
3. Mint.com App – As we all tighten out belts, I find it extraordinarily useful to have the pulse of my balance sheet and cash flow on a regular basis. As a mobile extension of the web service, it does a good job summarizing where my money’s coming and going as well as showing me “alerts” when irregular events occur such as a large purchase.
   What’s missing: I’d like to be able to dig into changes in my 401K (chart of how it’s trending, which holdings are up/down), be able to re-categorize transactions, and “predict” my cash flow out a couple months based on past data and budgets.
   12/09 Update: The latest app adds re categorization.
4. eBay App – I’m glad that with the 1.2 version of the app we’ve finally got a stable version of the buyer experience. I can check on items I’m watching, bid or buy items, as well as do quick price check searches.
   What’s missing: Disclosure: the design for this app is on my team so you’ll have to settle for… “stay tuned”
5. Google App – Enables me to search the web and my contacts quickly–even allowing voice search.
   What’s missing: It needs to search more things on my phone, especially my email. I’d also like the app to expand on results from certain sources (e.g. wikipedia entries) similar to Yahoo Search Monkey so that I don’t have to goto the page. Safari browsing should be built into the app so that it doesn’t need to be separately launched.
6. Dropbox App (added 02/10) – Syncs my files across both my Mac and PC as well as making them available in the cloud which I can access via the web or thru this iPhone app. Now no matter where I am I can access my key files.
   What’s missing: Search

What apps would I like to put on my home page but just aren’t available?

LinkedIn App – The current 1.0 app misses the point and tries to copy Facebook with a news feed approach. What I want is an app that replaces my built-in Contacts app with rich information about everyone I talk with everyday (role, history of previous calls/sms/emails, names for their spouse and kids). When I’m networking with new people, I want to be able to exchange business cards wirelessly (leverage OS 3.0 bonjour). I should be able to look up LinkedIn profiles using just a name and phone number. Finally, I’d like the app to remind me to follow up with key contacts I want to stay in touch with when it’s been too long.
12/09 Update: The 3.0 version of this app shows the LinkedIn Product team is commited to building a solid app. They added the biz card exchange feature and many key features from the website.

Skype App - The current 1.0 app is helpful (especially when traveling to make cheap VoIP calls) but is held back by two key limitations: lack of push events and VoIP only over WiFi. Time will tell if the carriers dial-back on the 3G limitation, but OS 3.0 will enable the Skype app to tell me if someone’s sending me an IM or trying to call me–a huge breakthru. 

TomTom App – My TomTom 300 device is dear friend of mine and navigated me all over Italy. That said, I would part with it if TomTom could provide me with Turn-by-Turn voice directions, rerouting, and offline maps (thus enabling it work anywhere with GPS). It looks like OS 3.0 will enable this now it’s just up to TomTom to come thru with their long rumored app. I’d pay $75 for this one and would sell my device on eBay.
12/09 Update: The app is now here and only $59.95 however the threat/hope of a Google Maps product with turn-by-turn directions makes me wonder if this app is now worth it and it’s supposedly a battery drain.

PowerPoint App with Dongle – This one’s simple, I’d like to be able to connect my phone to an LCD projector via a dongle and project a presentation. Why bring a powerful laptop when a simple device like my phone can do the job. This doesn’t have to be built by Microsoft and perhaps the Slideshare or Air Sharing folks might come out with it first–or better yet a micro-projector that does it all.

Fitbit App – I’m on the waiting list for the first fitbit exercise/sleep device now due out early this summer. What would make this experience one better is if I could track what I eat directly on my phone without having to remember later when I get to my computer. It also could show me a summary of key stats (like Mint) which would be interesting to check-in with daily (e.g. how did I sleep last night?).
12/09 Update: I got my FitBit in Nov and after 2 weeks returned it. It didn’t offer much analysis and the sleep tracking feature was not very accurate. Good idea but mediocre execution.

What apps do you use everyday? What apps do you think are missing?

Yesterday eBay launched a new marketplace for buying environmentally friendly and fair-trade goods from all over the world called World of Good.


In the same way you know the groceries at Whole Foods are sourced from vendors who practice environmentally sound and labor friendly practices, this site provides a “Trustology” on every seller which helps you as a buyer make a sound choice. By buying goods on this site you know that you’re supporting people making a living wage or artisan’s in the third world proudly practice their craft.

Congratulations to my friend and classmate Robert Chatwani who’s the “founder” and GM for this effort as well as Seema Shah and Myra Liu who led the design of it.  

We’re expanding the User Experience Design team at eBay and are looking for a Lead Interaction Designer and a dozen other positions in IxD, Visual Design, and Content Strategy.

Update 4/4/08:
View jobs on LinkedIn: Interaction Designer, Senior IxD, Lead IxD

Update 6/1/08:
Positions are all filled. Thanks!

At eBay we’re expanding our design team and I’m now looking for an Interaction Design Manager to lead a team of talented designers. 

In the role you’ll design direct your team on their projects from inception to launch enabling them to best meet their user needs and business goals. As we evolve from a mostly static user interface on eBay to more rich and interactive experiences you should champion new front-end technologies (e.g. AJAX, Adobe Flex, MS Silverlight) and broaden the innovation possibilities for our user experiences.

You should identify and implement process improvements and design methodologies that would make the design group more efficient and effective. We expect you to mentor the designers on your team with the goal of enhancing their abilities and helping them achieve a fulfilling career path. Finally, we’re looking for someone who is active in the design community and who is looking to maintain or expand the current role they’re playing thru talks, conferences, and networking.

Contact me if you’d like more information.

Last month eBay launched a new embeddable widget called eBay To Go which allowed bloggers to add a preview of an item or a search. Now eBay’s expanded that set to include a Seller and Store widget which is pretty cool. This allows eBay’s trading platform to extend to the far reaches of the blogosphere.

Meanwhile my wife has gone on a selling spree after attending eBay Live! last week and now has nearly 20 items for sale. If you’re looking for a great second hand purse or sunglasses look no further than below.

34, originally uploaded by rajsid.

A few weeks ago eBay’s user experience design team went to Nestldown off Hwy 17 for an offsite centered around effective use of personas. One huge challenge of using personas at eBay is the massive customer base of ours which essentially mimics much of the Internet. We are pioneering how a design team might scale this concept over an array of product offerings and customer demographics which is quite exciting. If others have similar experiences to share, I’d love to hear about.

In between sessions we enjoyed the blooming tulips and held a photography contest (see eBayUED tag). Above is one of the winning photos taken by Raj.

As eBay focuses more on our buyers I have the good fortune of now growing my UED team. If you’re a bright designer and you’re not sure where you career is going now or simply enjoy designing for millions of customers, eBay is the place for you.

By joining our design team you’re sure to learn from some of the best in the industry.

Here’s what I’m looking for:

• 2 User Experience / UI Managers – One to head up the search team and another to head up the bidding, buying, and communications team. I’m seeking people with experience leading design teams.
• 5 4 UI Designers – Various levels from Associate to Senior who can join the Finding team focused on multi-faceted finding, interactive browse metaphors, and My eBay.
• 2 Visual Designers – Focused on our search products.
• 1 Content Manager – Focused on our search products.
• 1 Prototyper – Focused on our search products.
• Finally there are lots of other positions open across the wider UED team including a Principal Designer role.

Feel free to apply for any of these positions on eBaycareers.com. Also if you are studying design at a leading university, I’m open to inquires for summer internships.

In April 2004 my wife and I bought our first home after renting an apartment for the first couple years of our marriage. It marked an important step in our lives and I believe firmly established the concept of “home” for the two of us. Moves, as with any change, can be an emotional time for all involved as you say goodbye to the past and look forward to the future.

You may have read in the NY Times today all of us at eBay Marketplace will be moving next month. As the move my wife and I made several years back–this move is significant. It marks a turning point in our organization and is meant as a catalyst for the new, more cross-functional way we are approaching our business.

As boxes are packed and familiar suroundings are left, we must remember the past but more importantly look to the future. Now… where did I put the masking tape.