This Meet the Trulian features Chloe Xie, a UX designer at Trulia who’s focused on the consumer search experience. Chloe began her career as UX prototyper before joining Trulia’s design team in 2015. Read on to learn more about her.
What’s your role at Trulia?
I am a UX designer focused on Trulia’s search results page. Our search results page is one of our core products, and my goal is to ensure each consumer’s experience with the page is as smooth and enjoyable as possible. My first role at Trulia was a UX design engineer on the Trulia Design Language team, where we worked to tighten the collaboration between design and engineering. I was responsible for creating and managing the various UI components used across our site. Growing the collaboration between the different groups was a great experience, I recommend all designers and engineers focus on their collaboration with each other.
What inspired you to get into your role?
I am inspired and excited by the notion of using emerging technologies, like artificial intelligence, to solve problems for consumers, which is something Trulia is investing in, and a reason I was attracted to the company. I’m fascinated by the idea of machines helping us move through our day-to-day without us realizing we’re engaging with them. In graduate school, I majored in human-computer interaction and learned how to create meaningful experiences for people in the digital world. This inspired me to get into designing better products and services for people. While there’s rapid growth in how we use machines to communicate with consumers, there’s definitely room to better humanize their output. Communicating data to consumers in the way they understand and prefer will be a big design challenge for the future, and I can’t wait to dive into it.
What was your dream job growing up and why?
I actually had quite a few dream jobs growing up: In my sophomore year of high school, I wanted to be an archaeologist, which I guess, in hindsight, was a little bit weird. I used to imagine traveling to undeveloped lands and finding ancient alien art pieces. By the time I was graduating high school, I dreamt of becoming a spaceship designer. I just couldn’t shake the idea of designing and building an aircraft that enables people to fly and explore the unknown. My dream job seemed to change constantly, which I think is a good thing; it means I am curious to explore and learn new things.
If you could have drinks with one tech luminary – dead or alive – whom would it be and why? And, what would your first question be?
Sheryl Sandberg. Even though she already wrote a book about how to be a strong female leader, I’m curious what advice she would give someone like me, someone who has only been working in tech for three years. I have always been interested in learning to be a strong leader without intimidating people, so I would love to talk to her about that specifically. My first question for Sheryl would be, “Can I friend you on Facebook?”
What’s the one gadget or personal tech item you cannot live without and why?
Like everyone else, my phone. Basically, it’s everything to me. I use my phone to stay in touch with family and friends, listen to music and podcasts, browse whatever is trendy and order food. My phone is my primary source of knowing what’s happening around me and around the world.
What was the last movie you saw or book you read and what –if anything – would you change about the ending?
I recently watched “Doctor Strange.” Even though I love most of the Marvel movies, “Doctor Strange” was a little boring, especially at the end when Strange talked the Dormammu into giving up the Earth. The idea of time traveling and space bending is awesome, but the person who was the master of controlling time and space died in a comparatively easy fight.
If you could master one talent or skill that you don’t have now what would it be and why
Though it would be expensive, I would love to learn to be a pilot. It would be amazing to know how to fly an aircraft, so you can see the world differently all the time.
If you could have one superpower what would it be and why?
Teleporting because my commute is terrible. If I could teleport, I would save a lot of time that I could spend doing something I want, instead of being stuck on the train.
If you could time travel, would you go into the future or past and why?
I would definitely travel into the future. I am eager to see what it looks like. I would love to know what the most popular things will be in 20 years. Then, I could come back to the present and start a business in something that everyone will use in the future, making me a pioneer in that industry or at least hopefully make me some money by being the very first to explore it! Sounds like a smart plan, right?
