Outlook Magazine - Fall 2017

Brady Voss - UW-Stout Alumni

What’s not to

“What helped me get my first job was that breadth of knowledge. It opened up doors for me.” - Brady Voss

One of his initial projects at Facebook, in 2013, was designing a revamped log-in for page users. “As simple as (a log-in button) may seem on the outside, there’s so much more going on inside,” Voss said, noting that the new log-in was tested with 1 percent of Facebook users, well more than 10 million people. Voss has done design work on Facebook’s Hello app for Android and a mobile Facebook “Like” button. For the last 2½ years he’s worked on video projects. Facebook is putting more emphasis on video options, including live video. Voss is excited to help determine how video is offered on Facebook through user experience design. Prior to Facebook, Voss worked from 2011 to 2013 at Microsoft in Seattle; he did design work on the Xbox game system and Windows phone. He also worked at TiVo and as a graphic designer in the Twin Cities after earning his Bachelor of Fine Arts from UW-Stout, with a concentration in multimedia design. Learning multimedia at UW-Stout, including 3D animation and special effects, was a key to moving up in the tech world, he said. “What helped me get my first job was that breadth of knowledge. It opened up doors for me.”

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Brady Voss with Mark Zuckerberg

Brady Voss, center, talks with Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, right, during a hackathon event at Facebook headquarters.

Alumnus enjoying Facebook design work and company culture

hen Brady Voss graduated in 2006 from UW-Stout, his goal was to work for one of the big technology companies out West. A little more than a decade into his career as a designer, he’s already worked at Microsoft and since 2013 has been employed

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at Facebook, a worldwide leader in social media.

The true measure of success for Voss, however, isn’t just where he works but how much he enjoys it. He’s found a lot to “like” at Facebook. “Facebook has a very different mentality than any other place I’ve worked. It’s the best,” said Voss, whose title is product design lead. “It’s very open. (CEO) Mark Zuckerberg wants the whole company to know what’s being worked on. That’s how everyone is expected to operate.” Zuckerberg sets the example by working in a glass office at company headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., outside of San Francisco. He connects weekly with small teams — about 10 people — of employees who work on myriad projects by hearing their presentations and offering feedback. “I’ve had a lot of reviews with Mark. He’s a very good leader in that he lets us as employees be trusted to create something great,” said Voss, a native of St. Croix Falls in northwestern Wisconsin. Designers who think outside the box and engineers are valued equally at Facebook, creating a culture in which employees have “opportunities to shine,” Voss said. He joined Facebook when it had about 3,500 employees. It has grown to more than 17,000. He works primarily out of Seattle but also in Menlo Park and Austin, Texas.

Love

Building 20 is part of the Facebook campus in Menlo Park, Calif., outside San Francisco. UW-Stout alumnus Brady Voss has been a designer at Facebook since 2013.

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