[MUSIC PLAYING]
AARON DRUCK: I'm feeling a little bit nervous, actually,
because I just--
I just really want to be liked.
DOUG STEVENSON: OK, well--
AARON DRUCK: I don't know, I just happened
to bring in a list of catchphrases,
maybe, from my favorite TV shows.
"Now, that I can put my foot on," "Downton Abbey."
"Oh, I can dance to that," "Arrested Development."
"My Furby is dead.
I can do what I want," "Pokemon."
"Too spicy," "Wayne's World."
"A surgeon is going to recommend surgery," "Law and Order."
"Could use a little sauce," "Matrix."
"How about that with a side of fries?"
"Westworld", I think.
DOUG STEVENSON: Aaron, why are you doing this?
AARON DRUCK: It's just important for me to be liked, Doug.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
DOUG STEVENSON: Hey, everybody.
Welcome to "#MeetFirebase," the show where you get to meet
the Googlers that make Firebase happen.
My name is Doug Stevenson, and on the show with me
today is Aaron Druck.
[APPLAUSE]
Aaron, thanks for being on the show.
AARON DRUCK: Thanks for having me.
DOUG STEVENSON: And you're here in the Fire Basement with me.
What do you think of the place?
AARON DRUCK: It's got a nice real wood here.
DOUG STEVENSON: Yeah, that's the realest wood you'll ever see.
[LAUGHS] Well, Aaron, tell me, what's
your place on the Firebase team?
AARON DRUCK: I'm a UX designer.
So I primarily work on the console, the Firebase console.
DOUG STEVENSON: OK, and what products
do-- because there's something like 20 products, right?
AARON DRUCK: Yeah, yeah.
I work on the develop tools.
So I work on Firestore primarily.
I used to work on hosting as well.
DOUG STEVENSON: OK, yeah.
So when I do public speaking, I actually
take screenshots of the Firestore console.
And I find it very easy to use and very
easy to explain how to use.
So I think it's a pleasure to use.
So what's new in the Firestore console that you've worked on?
AARON DRUCK: Well, one of the big things that we're
working on right now is a new onboarding
or a zero state for Database.
So--
DOUG STEVENSON: OK, what's a zero state, for everyone
who doesn't know that term?
AARON DRUCK: So it's like a first-time user experience.
So you come in there.
It's fresh.
You don't know what you want to do.
We give you information about it.
So you can either pick Firestore or a database.
DOUG STEVENSON: OK.
So zero state means you're there for the first time.
You have no data, no context.
You're sort of getting started for the very first time.
AARON DRUCK: Yeah, it's kind of like you go to the grocery
store you have two avocados, and it's
like, which one do you want to pick?
DOUG STEVENSON: OK, so you need to figure out
which one to pick, right?
Some hand-holding or some help.
AARON DRUCK: Yeah, a little bit.
DOUG STEVENSON: OK.
So before joining Firebase, you also worked on other stuff
at Google.
So I'm curious to know what you worked on there.
AARON DRUCK: Yeah, originally when I joined Google,
I worked on Google+, and I worked on some social apps
in there.
I also worked on this app called Who's Down,
which was this other social get-together app.
And I worked on Firebase.
I worked on hosting in Firebase.
And I worked on Actions on Google.
And Actions on Google is a developer platform
to make apps for the Google Assistant.
DOUG STEVENSON: OK, yeah.
So I haven't done anything with Actions on Google.
Actually, I used the SDK to hook in with Dialogflow,
but I'm curious to know what you've
done with Actions on Google, because I think
some of our developers who are watching today
might have some context on that.
AARON DRUCK: Yeah, definitely.
So Actions on Google, you can make
apps for the Google Assistant.
You go to Actions on Google, you go to the console.
You can build your actions there.
You can work on the dialogue for it as well.
And then you publish it, and then
it's on the Google Assistant so anyone can use your apps.
DOUG STEVENSON: OK, yeah.
I actually just got a Google Home Mini.
It was a gift.
It's not something I would buy for myself,
but now that I have one, I might have to build something for it.
AARON DRUCK: You should say, hey Google,
talk to UX Tips, or hey, Google, talk to Mandolin tuner.
Those are two apps that I made that are on there.
I don't know if they're still there.
They might have taken them off.
DOUG STEVENSON: Oh.
Well, I'll definitely check that out.
I'll try to build something myself.
And probably use Firebase with that as well,
for like a fulfillment or something.
AARON DRUCK: Yeah.
DOUG STEVENSON: So you do more than just
build software experiences for developers.
So I've noticed that on your website,
you have physical things as well, not just software things.
So what are some of your favorite physical things
that you've built?
AARON DRUCK: I like to build tables, end tables, things
like that.
And then kind of combining with software,
I've made some physical computing projects.
So one of them is this-- this was in grad school--
is this like flower.
And it's an ambient notification system,
where you get emails from people and certain flowers light up.
That was to reduce stress.
DOUG STEVENSON: Oh, that's interesting.
AARON DRUCK: It was like proof of concept.
DOUG STEVENSON: OK, so instead of
getting the alert or the notification or a buzz,
you get something in your house.
AARON DRUCK: Yeah, exactly.
Something a little bit nicer than staring at a screen.
DOUG STEVENSON: Yeah, I don't want
to stare at a screen all day.
But I'm not sure how I feel about a flower that lights up.
That might be a little too foreign for me.
AARON DRUCK: And then uou're just
going to stare at flowers all day.
I mean, flowers are really nice, but--
DOUG STEVENSON: Yeah, they're very pleasant, yeah.
So yeah, that's all a very interesting experience
for users and developers.
And I found that historically, UX, your field,
has been misunderstood.
I think some people just think it's design,
or like art or illustration.
But I think it's more than that.
And I'm kind of curious, what's your way of communicating
what you actually do?
Because it's not just design.
AARON DRUCK: OK, so I often use this analogy.
I don't know if this is really going to work, but--
so someone has designed the street outside
and there's the stoplights, they turn
on an off at specific times.
So someone has been measuring the flow
of traffic, the flow of cars.
And it's probably like a designer or a civil architect
or something.
DOUG STEVENSON: Some engineer.
AARON DRUCK: Yeah.
And so they want to optimize the flow of traffic.
And so in some ways, I'm trying to optimize certain flows,
but in a digital space.
And at the same time, you've got the boulevards
that help with making it visually appealing.
So kind of doing the same things,
just in a different medium.
DOUG STEVENSON: OK.
Well, Aaron, thanks for joining me here on "#MeetFirebase."
It was a pleasure having you on.
AARON DRUCK: Yeah, thanks for having me.
DOUG STEVENSON: And thank you for tuning in to this episode
of "#MeetFirebase."
Be sure to subscribe right here to the Firebase channel
on YouTube to get more great video content.
And I'll see you here next time.
Bye-bye.
AARON DRUCK: Just let me know if that'll work.
I'd appreciate it.
This meant a lot to me--
Doug.
DOUG STEVENSON: Aaron, you are a fraud.
AARON DRUCK: I just really want to be liked.