Product Principles
Dropbox users are just like us: Short on time, fighting to stay focused, and always looking for ways to wrangle the chaos and be more effective.
Product Principles
Dropbox users are just like us: Short on time, fighting to stay focused, and always looking for ways to wrangle the chaos and be more effective.
Dropbox • values
01
It just works
No one wants to read an instruction manual for their software. If the user has to spend their time figuring it out, we don’t ship it. An effortless experience means all of Dropbox works together. Period. Be aware of other projects and make sure everything clicks as system.
Dropbox • values
02
Give it focus
No one is asking for more choices. They are asking for better ones. In a world with endless options, attention is a user’s most valuable resource. Don’t waste it. If something’s already been built, don’t build it again. Add things that serve our users’ needs. Be ruthless in removing anything that doesn’t.
Dropbox • values
03
Make it magical
No matter what you do, work is still work. Our goal is to spark smiles along the way. Look for opportunities to make it joyful. Celebrate a completed task. Automate the next one. This isn’t just about visual flourish. It’s about the satisfaction delivered by tech that gets you.
Showcase
Browse a diverse collection of our designs and references to see what inspires us.
Meet the Team
Dive into the inner workings of the Portfolio Design Team and their motivations.
Why did you join Dropbox?
CSI started to miss the long-term impact that you can have when you work somewhere in-house. Dropbox is also a very design-centric company that has had a long-standing design culture, and very clear impact on the broader design community. And that's something that's also really important to me. Additionally, also just getting to be an IC leader is something that I feel Dropbox is modelling for other companies.
A lot of the IC roles cap at senior. And I feel it's wonderful that I didn't have to push for that here. I know that somebody probably did, but it's amazing to come in with that foundation already set and a clear path for people. And now our team gets to model what that means for other designers.
CMI joined because I wanted to work somewhere where the work mattered in people's lives and was not predatory, trying to use psychology to trick people into doing things that they don't want to do or buy things that they don't want to buy. I feel like the value we provide as a company is just honestly, truly trying to help people recapture time and energy that they can get back to their families or communities or people they care about. So in that way, it feels very easy to sleep at night and feel committed to the work.
ALThe opportunity at Dropbox, specifically with the portfolio design team, felt like the perfect fit. The vision was clear: to take an end-to-end look at the product experience and address the diverse challenges and opportunities by using design thinking, concepting, and storytelling. This kind of horizontal oversight, where design plays a pivotal role in shaping the future, was exactly what I was looking for.
The timing couldn't be more exciting. We’re standing at the forefront of generative AI, which is already transforming the core of Dropbox’s business—how we manage data, content, and collaboration for companies and individuals alike.
What is the Portfolio Design Team at Dropbox about?
ASPortfolio Design team is a group of Senior Principal, Principal, and Staff Designers whose job is to set design direction, connect dots across the customer experience, and improve the quality of what we put in customer's hands. Portfolio Design was formed two years ago out of a simple observation: Siloed teams who are moving fast unintentionally ship disjointed experiences. Customers shouldn't experience our org chart. They should experience Dropbox. By putting our most senior ICs in between product teams we're taking Dropbox from disjointed surfaces and apps to a premium, thoughtfully designed portfolio of tools, hence the team name!
CMWe tackle both breadth and depth within the company. So strategically, we tackle big challenges with alignment, to get different teams aligned to a common goal. And we also get hands-on and tackle gnarly problems that require deep expertise, and deep customer understanding in a tricky area. So ambiguous problems are kind of the things that we love to tackle and try to build a transformative change within the company.
What project are you proud of?
CMThe web redesign is a project we worked on for over a year and we all contributed in many ways to the project. I was with it for the entirety of the 12 months, so I saw it from the early stage of trying to build the core thesis for why change was necessary on the web product itself.
We were not just looking at how the experience had gotten a little bit gnarly at certain points. We were trying to surface opportunities for it to get a lot better. Bringing in new business opportunities and strategy, and trying to build a new information architecture that would allow for the new bets and strategic bets we were making to better land with customers.
What was the biggest change you were pushing for?
CMWe previously had a multi-product strategy that directed users to separate, loosely connected products, causing friction and a poor experience. For example, if someone was trying to quickly edit a PDF, add some signature fields, get it signed by somebody, store it, and then track when the document was sent out to get signed, that previously would have taken them to three different products with very different user experiences, and different identity backend systems. Customers were telling us they didn't want to use this, and the data showed we were getting very low take-up.
So we focused on integration - how do we integrate these things tightly, and build on common UX patterns so that a customer feels like they can do this much more fluidly than they could in the past? That was probably the biggest change we made.
What limitations did you feel at previous companies, and how is that different today at Dropbox?
CSJust in terms of being an IC designer. I think at other places I've worked, a lot of the strategic work was, I would say, centred more around management. So to be a contributor to a product's strategy as a designer, you essentially need to consider taking on reports, and that is a very admirable direction to take your career in. But there's also a lot of value in bringing a perspective that is more within the realm of craft.
So thinking about how you apply the design system to the actual product, thinking about things at a more complex layer, that's something that I've found to be interesting. I've managed people a couple of times in my design career and I'm open to doing that in the future, but I find myself much more closely aligned with being more hands-on and getting to dig into all ends of the experience.
And so I found that I would have questions and a lot of opinions about a product's direction, but it was hard to figure out where I needed to go to have those opinions being something. What I appreciate about working at Dropbox is that our collaborators often are actually directors, and we are very often in conversations with executives and senior leaders, and they want our feedback and they want our thinking, and we're driving those conversations a lot of the time.
What do you find challenging with your work?
CMI think one thing that might be unique about Dropbox relative to other companies is that we're really in a period of transformation. Some companies hit product-market fit, they're a startup, and they're in a moment of scaling. They're trying to scale the business to more geographies, more customers, that kind of thing. We've already done that as a company in our first big act.
And now we're sort of trying to enter that second act and really do it again, and then go through this transformation and new market opportunities. And some of those are undefined. A lot of them involve AI and new technologies. There's a lot of ambiguity, both in terms of the business going through this transformation and ambiguity in terms of the technologies that are going to power that next revolution, whether we can be a player there or not.
I think people who are successful here are typically ones who like that and want to take on the challenge of being part of that transformation.
In what ways does Dropbox stand out from other companies you’ve been with?
ALOne of the most unique things about Dropbox is its core mission—to serve the needs of others, particularly other businesses. There's a deep, almost sacrificial humility in how Dropbox approaches its work. They genuinely strive to be customer-obsessed, not just in words but in building experiences that empower users to extract more value from the platform.
What really makes Dropbox stand out for me is its emphasis on design. They are intentionally putting design at the forefront of decision-making and leadership, which is a journey that takes time, especially when it comes to transforming internal and external culture.
What excites you the most about your future at Dropbox?
ALThere’s a potential here to create an entirely new paradigm for how users interact with their systems. Traditionally, we’ve designed interfaces to help people tell machines what they want, but now we’re entering a new era where machine learning and generative AI are becoming part of the conversation. This opens up opportunities to design interfaces that foster unstructured collaboration in ways we've never seen before.
How are you finding working remotely?
CMA brief point to make is that we have this concept called 'core collaboration hours,' which is a four-hour overlap with the coasts. As a result, people often try to cluster meetings within that four-hour window every day. As a maker, I find this tremendously valuable because I can do deep work in the other zones outside of that window. For example, my morning in Central Time allows me to be incredibly productive. I remember in my last job, I had meetings scattered from eight in the morning till five.
CSBuilding on that, it's as if we're asking ourselves, "Does this need to be a live synchronous conversation? Is there another format that could be as impactful or potentially save us time?" That's another topic I often discuss with people. Additionally, I remember seeing encouragement to clean up my calendar very actively. Over time, especially as a more senior designer, you accumulate numerous one-on-one meetings from past projects across different parts of the organization. Therefore, I regularly clean up my calendar, with a recurring reminder to do so. This practice is incredibly helpful.
What kind of people thrive at Dropbox, and what skills are needed for success?
CSYou need to embrace ambiguity and feel excited by it. Embrace the feeling of being overwhelmed, push past it, and dive into the fear of the unknown. I believe that people who tend to be biased towards action are particularly valuable on this team, but I think, in general, at Dropbox, the more you can create momentum and understand when to push things forward, the better. There are a lot of people here, and it's crucial to ensure that you're generating energy and sharing the vision to get people excited and motivated to move forward together.
CMI might also add deep empathy for the customers we're trying to serve and a ruthless commitment to crafting great experiences. This entails caring deeply about interaction details, typography, visual design, motion design, and all the fundamentals that contribute to creating a memorable experience. We have the opportunity to be extensively involved in the creation process and set the tone for the design throughout the organization.
Workspaces
Read about how various perks and benefits have impacted the lives of our team.
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ASCurated
A curated collection of our favorite books, podcasts, music, and more, hand-picked by our team for your enjoyment.
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SZPerks and Benefits
Read about how various perks and benefits have impacted the lives of our team.
Flexible Time Off
Taking time off when I need it gives me the freedom to recharge, relax, and come back more creative and refreshed.
Skye
Regular Team Offsites
Meeting my awesome teammates in person gives us the chance to build personal connections and foster stronger relationships.
Skye
Flexible Work Hours
Having the freedom to organize my own day enables me to work on creative side projects while remaining productive at work.
Skye
Core Collaboration Hours
Most meetings are all in a four hour block in the middle of my day, allowing for ample deep work time in the mornings.
Chris
Work-From-Home Stipend
Financial support for working from home, in the form of reimbursements for items like food, utilities, and office equipment.
Chris
Great Healthcare
The healthcare benefit has been fantastic. Plans have low deductibles. Prescriptions are well-covered. And mental health is well-supported.
Chris
Remote Work
It makes all the difference in the world to me to be able to work for whom I want and not be constrained by geography.
Michael
Design Team Org Design
We have an incredible Design team that includes Content Designers, UX Researchers, and Design Operations folks. Because our team includes specialists, generalists like me can focus, learn more, and ultimately create better experiences for our different customer segments.
Catt
Kind Coworkers
Being surrounded by people who are as humble as they are intelligent is a pleasure and a privilege I cherish. It makes the work so much easier when your coworkers are open and collaborative.
Catt
Remote Work
I love the ability to work from anywhere! I’ve traveled and worked from many locations during my tenure at Dropbox. As an introvert with ADHD, working from home means I have a private workspace where I can do design work free of interruptions.
Catt
Virtual First
As a father of four with a dog and two cats, working virtually has given me the flexibility to be more involved with my family. It allows me to be present in my children’s lives and participate in their daily activities, which has been invaluable for both me and my family.
Carlos
Generous Paternity Leave
The generous paternity leave allowed me to spend meaningful time with my youngest daughter. It also gave me the opportunity to model for my older kids how to welcome a new family member, which has been an incredible bonding experience for all of us.
Carlos
Gable Partnership
Dropbox’s partnership with Gable, a co-working space broker, has been a great perk. Whenever I need a change of scenery or a focused work environment, I can head to a nearby co-working space. It’s the perfect balance of working from home and having access to an office-like environment when needed.
Carlos
Collaboration Hours
When we went virtual, we set some ground rules for how we’d work together. The most impactful one is Core Collaboration Hours—a set block of time when we’re all available across time zones. It also creates a culture of focus hours for uninterrupted solo work.”
Anna
Career Investment
I started at Dropbox five years ago directing Brand Strategy and today I lead a team of senior Product Designers. This career evolution was possible because Dropbox is a place where if you show ownership and conviction, you can try almost anything.
Anna
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some answers regarding company policies and the nature of work.
How does Dropbox support employee development and growth?
Learning and failing are vital parts of our culture—so much so self awareness and self reflection are traits we cover in manager feedback. Our learning programs cover both leadership and collaboration skills as well as individual craft and technical development. In design everyone from our most senior practitioners down participate in ongoing skill building in UX, visual, and interaction design.
What is Dropbox's policy on remote work?
We are Virtual First, meaning remote is the primary way we work. That means everyday we’re experimenting with the work environment of the future while simultaneously building the tools that we hope will make work better for our customers. We’re living our company mission of designing a more enlightened way of working.
Four years into this way of working we’ve learned that in-person connection is essential. We prioritize opportunities for quarterly in-person collaboration — whether its for team building, brainstorming, or strategic planning.
How does Dropbox promote work-life balance?
We embrace “non-linear workdays” with defined core collaboration hours that overlap across time zones. Beyond that, we encourage employees to design their own schedules to balance collaboration with needs for individual focus. We’ve also moved from “all day syncs” to an “async by default” culture, reserving meetings for discussion, debate, and decision-making, and handling all other work in our deep focus hours.