Slack | Techlist.io

datadogApr 30, 20212 min readCurated summary

How Datadog's IT team automated monitoring third-party accounts

Datadog built “Clarity,” an automated system for auditing SaaS accounts against Workday’s employee records. It regularly identifies accounts that do not belong to active employees, then logs, tickets, stores, and communicates findings through Datadog, Freshservice, Slack, and DynamoDB. The system replaces infrequent, manual reviews with continuous visibility and faster remediation of security and cost risks. ## The Need for Automated SaaS Audits - Modern companies rely on dozens or hundreds of external applications. - Manual account reviews are difficult to scale and may fail to detect unauthorized or abandoned accounts promptly. - An unexpected account in an identity provider or SaaS application could give a bad actor access to sensitive systems. - Datadog needed recurring audits as its SaaS portfolio continued to expand. ## Clarity’s Requirements - Use a single source of truth for employee status: - Datadog uses Workday. - Other organizations could use Okta, OneLogin, ADP, or Active Directory. - Run frequently enough to provide timely visibility. - Support manual execution when needed. - Integrate with existing communication, ticketing, and observability tools, such as Slack, Freshservice, and Datadog. - Minimize disruption to IT workflows and encourage adoption across a globally distributed organization. ## Audit Pipeline - A CloudWatch Event Rule triggers the audit Monday through Friday at 10 a.m. EST. - Clarity concurrently retrieves: - Active employees from Workday. - Active users from primary SaaS applications such as Slack, GitHub, and Zoom. - It compares SaaS user email addresses with active employee records. - Accounts without a matching active employee are flagged. - Results are: - Sent to Datadog as logs and metrics. - Added to DynamoDB for historical tracking. - Converted into Freshservice tickets. - Reported through Slack notifications with an audit summary. ## Datadog Metrics and Investigation - Clarity sends a metric for every flagged account using the Datadog Metrics API and Python SDK. - It uses a gauge metric to track flagged accounts over time. - Metrics include tags such as: - Environment, such as production. - Responsible team. - SaaS service. - Flagged user’s email address. - These tags provide the context needed to investigate the account and support alerting and visualization within Datadog. ## Practical Outcome Clarity provides a repeatable, automated control for SaaS account governance. Organizations implementing a similar system should connect an authoritative employee directory to their SaaS inventory, run audits regularly, and integrate findings with their existing monitoring, ticketing, and notification workflows.

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Slack Database Design Datadog Aws Lambda+4

figmaOct 12, 20203 min readCurated summary

Reflections on Figma’s inaugural Student Fellowship | Figma Blog

Figma’s inaugural Student Fellowship was created in response to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the shift away from campus-based education. Rather than organizing local meetups, Figma worked with students to build accessible resources, communities, and programs for remote learning and collaboration. Over 10 weeks, the fellowship successfully produced classroom tools, student-focused content, and virtual community experiences while establishing a model for future student programs. ## Rethinking the Student Program - Figma originally planned to make on-campus meetups central to its education efforts. - As students faced remote semesters and uncertain campus plans, the team reconsidered how to support them beyond physical classrooms. - Student conversations focused on: - Recreating classroom and campus collaboration online - Supporting extracurricular projects - Helping educators adapt to new teaching environments - Understanding students’ changing needs - The program centered on classroom resources, student stories, the Virtual Campus Slack Community, and hackathons. ## Setting a Broader Vision - The fellowship aimed not only to ship content but also to establish a foundation for future fellowship programs. - Figma considered how the program could complement: - On-campus student ambassadors - The Friends of Figma community - The broader design ecosystem - The group prioritized resources that were both accessible to students and aspirational. - Although fellows worked across separate workstreams, they operated as a cohesive team and intended their work to reach Figma employees and professional designers as well as students. ## Classroom Resources - The fellows created six classroom templates usable both online and in person. - Examples included: - A research-project toolbox - A playground file for learning Figma’s editor - An assignment-creation template - They also curated a broader collection of community resources to help teachers and students learn, create, and use Figma effectively. ## Student Stories and Career Questions - Conversations with students revealed widespread uncertainty about whether to take a gap year. - Figma responded with a “Back To School?” interview series featuring: - Dylan Field - Marc Andreessen - May-Li Khoe - Karlie Kloss - John Maeda - Laura Deming - The interviews explored gap years, education, and alternative paths through higher education. - Fellow Abigail Africa also published guidance on pitching and presenting, emphasizing audience awareness, confidence, and storytelling. ## Virtual Campus and Camp Figma - More than 1,000 students joined Figma’s Virtual Campus Slack Community during the summer. - The community enabled students to connect, teach, learn, and socialize remotely. - Figma also hosted Camp Figma, a two-day virtual make-a-thon involving hundreds of students across dozens of time zones. - Featured winning projects included FigmAdventure and Slice. ## Overall Impact - The fellowship demonstrated that student programming could extend beyond campus events through digital communities and reusable resources. - Its success gave Figma a practical foundation for developing future fellowships and strengthening its broader education initiatives. - The program also showed the value of involving students directly in designing services intended for their own community.

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Slack Figma Prototyping Collaborative Design+2

figmaMay 12, 20202 min readCurated summary

Finding design inspiration at home | Figma Blog

Figma designers argue that creative inspiration can come from ordinary activities, personal memories, online communities, and fields far removed from design. During periods of isolation or creative fatigue, making things, exploring unfamiliar subjects, and connecting with others can be more productive than forcing ideas. The central recommendation is to broaden creative inputs while avoiding direct imitation. ## Less Thinking, More Doing - Overthinking can drain creative energy, especially when work continues during stressful periods. - Trying a new hobby or skill can break the cycle: - Remilla Ty finds inspiration in collecting plants, rearranging furniture, drawing, and writing. - Rasmus Andersson explores computer science, music, and games. - Joyful side projects, such as turning drawings into stickers, can provide a creative boost without the pressure of professional work. ## Finding a Virtual Escape - Travel, museums, architecture, and live music may be unavailable, but memories can provide a substitute source of inspiration. - Creative director Tori Hinn revisits photographs in her camera roll to reconnect with past experiences and regain energy. - Looking through personal archives can offer perspective and stimulate new ideas. ## Leaning on Online Communities - Designers are using social media, Figma Community, articles, videos, and collaborative platforms to stay connected and inspired. - Katherine Frazer recommends Are.na because users can openly contribute to shared collections. - Rasmus Andersson follows curated sources such as Archillect on Twitter. - Noah Levin uses Twitter organically, following interesting designers and discovering more through their networks. - Online communities can replace some of the creative exchange normally found in physical spaces. ## Going Beyond Design - Inspiration becomes stronger when it comes from areas unlike design because the mind must create connections between unfamiliar concepts and visual ideas. - Tori draws from music and movies, while Remilla looks to innovation-focused content such as cooking shows. - Searching directly for solutions to a specific design problem can lead to imitation or narrow thinking. - Rasmus recommends studying neighboring fields or “similar-but-different” problems instead of copying work that solves the exact same challenge. Creative momentum does not require constant exposure to design references. Experiment with hands-on hobbies, revisit personal experiences, connect with online communities, and seek unexpected influences to develop more original ideas.

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Slack Figma User Experience Visual Design+3

figmaApr 14, 20202 min readCurated summary

Research, remotely | Figma Blog

Remote research requires more than transferring in-person methods to video calls; it demands empathy, clear guidance, and intentional collaboration. Figma’s research team recommends adapting participant communication, limiting observers, documenting sessions, and using shared virtual boards to synthesize findings. Remote work also creates opportunities to reach people who would otherwise be difficult to interview in person. ## Lead with User Empathy - Recognize that participants may be facing personal or professional difficulties and may not be ready to participate. - Be willing to pause or slow research when the situation calls for it. - Avoid assuming participants are comfortable with video-conferencing tools. - Send preparation materials and detailed instructions explaining how to join the call and what the session will involve. ## Keep the Research Team Involved - Limit live participants to essential roles, such as a facilitator and note-taker, since too many observers can make participants uncomfortable. - Record interviews only after obtaining permission; recordings preserve tone and context that written notes may miss. - Hold post-session debriefs with the full research team, including people who did not attend the interview. - Share recorded status updates in Slack to communicate interview progress, emerging findings, project materials, and outstanding sessions. ## Use a Virtual Research Board Figma’s team uses shared boards to collect and synthesize research remotely. A useful board can include: - **Research questions:** The study’s goals and questions to answer. - **Participants:** Participant profiles, roles, images, and notable quotes. - **Theme board:** Grouped notes showing patterns across interviews. - **Open questions:** Issues requiring further investigation. - **Next steps:** Specific follow-up sessions, analysis, or team discussions. ## Take Advantage of Remote Research - Remote sessions can reach participants who live far from a company’s headquarters or outside typical in-person recruiting areas. - Although remote research introduces technical and interpersonal challenges, it can broaden access to geographically diverse audiences. Remote research works best when teams prioritize participant comfort, provide unusually clear instructions, and maintain shared documentation. Use remote tools not merely as substitutes for in-person work, but as a way to expand who can participate and how findings are shared.

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Slack Figma User Research Usability Testing+2

figmaApr 7, 20202 min readCurated summary

Keeping that tight-knit feeling, at a distance | Figma Blog

Figma argues that remote work requires more than moving meetings online: teams must intentionally recreate the informal interactions that build trust and community. Its approach combines aligned leadership, recurring social rituals, playful meeting practices, and collaborative activities in Figma. The goal is to preserve connection and morale even when colleagues cannot share an office. ## Keeping the Team Close - Remote work removes spontaneous interactions such as coffee breaks, shared meals, and hallway conversations. - Teams should preserve these moments deliberately rather than treating them as unnecessary. - Meetings that could be replaced by email or Slack can still provide valuable opportunities to check in socially. ## Coordinating Leaders - Figma’s CEO brought managers together to brainstorm ways to maintain team cohesion. - Leaders shared practices such as daily morning check-ins and virtual coffees. - A dedicated Slack channel lets managers exchange ideas, articles, and resources. - Individual teams can choose different approaches while maintaining a shared sense of collective responsibility. ## Creating Moments of Joy - Figma organizes optional workouts, pet-owner meetups, and other informal gatherings. - Zoom chat is used to applaud presenters, add comments, and ask questions. - All Hands meetings end with everyone briefly turning on video to see one another. - Biweekly “Show and Tell” sessions let employees share work, stories, or personal interests. - The company introduced playful elements such as sharing favorite Zoom backgrounds. - Daily Slack prompts encourage upbeat conversation, including recommendations for weekend television. - Donut pairs employees with one or two random colleagues for informal conversations. - Coworkers have adapted walking one-on-ones into Zoom or FaceTime walks. ## Collaborative Activities in Figma - **Figma Tennis:** Participants volley images back and forth, building on each other’s designs. - **Trash Dinosaur:** Teams collaboratively assemble a dinosaur from five virtual pieces of trash. - **Virtual bookshelf:** Colleagues display favorite or currently read books. - **Word-guessing game:** A Pictionary-style activity tests drawing and guessing skills. - These activities can stand alone or be used as short, energizing additions to regular meetings. Teams working remotely should intentionally schedule informal connection, support leaders in sharing successful practices, and make room for playful collaborative experiences—not just task-focused calls.

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Slack Figma Remote Collaboration Zoom+2

figmaMar 30, 20203 min readCurated summary

How to run a remote brainstorm | Figma Blog

Figma argues that remote brainstorming requires more deliberate structure than in-person sessions, especially when teams can no longer rely on spontaneous huddles or whiteboards. Clear goals, shared tools, advance preparation, and smaller breakout groups help remote participants contribute more comfortably and creatively. The central recommendation is to preserve space for ideas while adding enough organization to keep the session focused. ## Why Remote Brainstorms Are Different - Fully distributed teams lose many informal collaboration habits, such as quick conference-room discussions. - Brainstorms require more creative energy than routine status meetings. - Uncertainty and remote-work challenges can make it harder for people to generate and share ideas. - Remote sessions therefore need both structure and room for exploration. ## Preparing the Session ### Define the Goal - Decide whether the session should produce many new ideas or refine a few existing options. - Tailor the level and type of input requested to the project’s current phase. - Communicate the goal clearly so participants understand how they can contribute. ### Set Up the Tools - **Video conferencing:** Put the call link in the calendar invite and encourage cameras where possible to create stronger personal connection. - **Shared Figma file:** Create one central workspace with edit access for all participants. - Use separate pages or frames for different themes. - Share a dedicated brainstorming file rather than relying on scattered documents. - **Chat channel:** For ongoing work, create a Slack channel for updates, notes, and follow-up feedback. - Add the working-document link to the channel topic for easy access. ### Share Materials in Advance - Send the brainstorming file the night before or the morning of the session. - Explain what the group should accomplish. - Add initial ideas or questions for participants to review and develop. - Allow people to ask questions privately or leave comments in the file before the meeting. ## Running the Brainstorm ### Start with Context and Guardrails - Restate the goal and explain what kind of help is needed. - Expect the conversation to go off track; enthusiasm can be a positive sign. - Create a “Parking lot” in the shared document for relevant but out-of-scope ideas to revisit later. ### Use Structured Exercises and Small Groups - Structured activities are generally more effective than completely freeform discussion when everyone is remote. - Divide participants into groups of two or three during video calls. - Smaller groups make it easier for quieter people to participate. - They also reduce technical and communication problems. - In each group, appoint a lead to report key takeaways to the wider team. - Share the Figma file on screen or have participants follow along using Observation mode. - Use video-conferencing breakout rooms when available. A successful remote brainstorm combines thoughtful preparation with a collaborative shared workspace. Teams should define the desired outcome, distribute materials early, use small-group exercises, and capture tangential ideas without letting them derail the main discussion.

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Slack Figma Remote Collaboration Brainstorming+2

figmaSep 3, 20194 min readCurated summary

How we do design critiques at Figma | Figma Blog

Figma argues that design critiques should be motivating, useful, and psychologically safe—not intimidating or discouraging. After identifying problems in its own critique process, the team redesigned critiques around clear goals and several formats suited to different stages of design work. The result is a more flexible practice focused on unblocking designers, improving quality, sharing context, and encouraging collaboration. ## Improving the Critique Process Figma began by “critiquing critiques” and gathering feedback from its design team. Common problems included: - Overcrowded meetings - Shallow or unactionable feedback - Complex problems squeezed into short time limits - Groupthink, excessive agreement, and reluctance to be honest - Critiques that failed to help designers move forward The team documented issues in a shared Figma file, identified the productive and creative energy in that workshop, and continued iterating through a dedicated Slack channel. ## Goals of Design Critique The team aligned on four primary purposes: - **Unblocking problems and generating ideas:** Helping designers overcome difficult problems or explore early possibilities. - **Elevating quality:** Improving visual design, interaction details, and broader product direction. - **Encouraging consistency:** Reusing established patterns and identifying when new patterns are needed. - **Sharing context:** Keeping the design team informed about company, product, and project developments. ## Standard Critiques Standard critiques are structured sessions in which a designer presents work and receives feedback from peers. They are most useful when the presenter explains the project’s context, goals, and specific questions before discussion begins. - The facilitator keeps the discussion focused and balanced. - Feedback should be concrete, honest, and actionable. - Participants should critique the work rather than the person. - The format works best when the group size and scope are limited. ## Jams and Workshops Jams and workshops are collaborative formats for situations that need ideas rather than evaluation. - Designers work together actively instead of simply commenting on a presentation. - They are useful for early-stage exploration, brainstorming, and complex problems. - The shared activity reduces the pressure placed on one presenter. - Their informal, energetic quality can produce the kind of creative collaboration Figma wanted in regular critiques. ## Pair Design Pair design places two designers together to solve a problem collaboratively. - One designer can explain their thinking while the other contributes ideas and challenges assumptions. - The format encourages deeper discussion and immediate iteration. - It is particularly useful for focused problems that benefit from sustained attention. - Pairing can produce more actionable feedback than a large-group discussion. ## Silent Critiques In a silent critique, participants review work and write feedback before discussing it aloud. - Everyone has time to inspect the work carefully. - Written comments reduce the influence of the most vocal participants. - The approach helps limit groupthink and “+1” feedback. - Discussion can focus on patterns and themes that emerge from the individual responses. ## Paper (“Print-Out”) Critiques Paper critiques use printed screens or designs placed around a room for participants to annotate. - Designers can review work at their own pace. - Feedback is often more detailed and specific than verbal comments. - The physical format encourages participants to engage directly with the work. - It is useful for reviewing multiple screens or flows without a presentation dominating the session. ## FYI Critiques FYI critiques are informational rather than feedback-driven. - A designer shares work mainly to provide context or visibility. - Participants are not expected to solve the problem or offer extensive critique. - This format avoids turning every design review into a decision-making meeting. - It helps the team stay informed while preserving critique time for work that needs active input. ## Principles for Effective Critiques Figma’s recommendations emphasize adapting the format to the work and creating a constructive environment: - Define the purpose of the session in advance. - Invite only people who can contribute relevant perspective. - Share context and specific questions before asking for feedback. - Match the critique format to the project’s stage and needs. - Use a facilitator to manage time, participation, and focus. - Encourage direct, respectful, actionable feedback. - Avoid groupthink and uncritical agreement. - Separate critique from final decision-making when appropriate. - Keep sessions focused enough that participants can engage deeply. - Treat the process as something to continually evaluate and improve. The practical recommendation is to stop treating critique as a single meeting format. Teams should establish clear goals, experiment with methods such as workshops, pair design, silent reviews, and FYI updates, and regularly assess whether critiques are genuinely helping designers feel inspired, challenged, and empowered.

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Slack Figma Product Design Collaboration+1

figmaDec 12, 20182 min readCurated summary

Deliveroo designs in the open with Figma | Figma Blog

Deliveroo adopted Figma to replace a fragmented design workflow that had become difficult to manage as the company and its design team grew. Shared files allowed product designers, content designers, researchers, engineers, and product managers to collaborate directly instead of exchanging screenshots, emails, and Slack messages. The result was a more open design culture, faster feedback, easier onboarding, and better alignment across teams. ## Collaboration Problems as Deliveroo Expanded - Deliveroo’s design organization grew to more than 40 people supporting consumers, riders, and restaurants. - Product groups became siloed as the company expanded rapidly. - Tools such as Sketch, Dropbox, Zeplin, and Abstract created disconnected workflows. - Teams struggled with: - File synchronization and version-control issues - Sending files back and forth by email - Maintaining consistency across app designs - Coordinating product and content design - Product and content designers effectively took turns working on the same file, leading to repeated screenshots, Slack messages, and manual checks. ## Moving to a Shared Figma Workflow - Deliveroo initially had concerns about changing tools but became interested in Figma’s collaborative editing. - A pilot demonstrated that multiple people could work in one document simultaneously. - Product and content designers could develop ideas together rather than maintaining separate files. - After adopting Figma, the team no longer needed to continually manage and synchronize disconnected design documents. ## Building a More Open Design Culture - Figma made the design process visible to a wider group of employees. - Product designers, researchers, engineers, and product managers could inspect work and understand the reasoning behind design decisions. - Engineers could identify edge cases earlier and discuss how to represent them in the product. - Non-design stakeholders felt more comfortable contributing because Figma was accessible beyond specialist design teams. - New designers could learn the organization’s work by exploring existing files instead of being trained across many separate tools. ## Faster Feedback and More Efficient Reviews - Comments and discussions remained attached to the relevant work in a single document. - Stakeholders could review projects without requiring a separate walkthrough. - Designers could ask and answer questions more quickly. - Centralized feedback reduced unnecessary back-and-forth and made team members feel more connected to the work. Deliveroo’s experience suggests that a shared, browser-based design workspace can reduce operational friction while encouraging broader participation. For rapidly growing design teams, consolidating files, feedback, and collaboration in one accessible tool can improve both speed and consistency.

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Slack Figma Design Systems Product Design+4

figmaMay 23, 20183 min readCurated summary

How you can design end to end on a Chromebook | Figma Blog

Chromebooks, once considered too limited for professional design, can now support an end-to-end design workflow when paired with cloud-based tools. The author’s year of using Chrome OS professionally shows that Figma, web apps, and cloud storage can replace most desktop software, although custom fonts, internet access, and specialized audio/video work remain limitations. ## Why Switch to a Chromebook? - The author moved from a Mac at Square because Chromebooks offered: - Stronger security - Lower cost - Automatic file backup and synchronization - Using a Chromebook helped the author understand coworkers who used Chrome OS. - Because Figma already ran in the browser, the transition was easier than expected. ## Six Things Designers Should Know About Chrome OS - **Figma is essential:** It is the author’s preferred cloud-based design tool and works natively in the browser. - **Keyboard shortcuts differ:** The Control key replaces Command, while the Search key can act as a modifier. Figma’s shortcut menu displays Chrome OS-specific commands. - **Performance is sufficient:** Figma performed well across three different Chromebooks. - **Most supporting tools are web-based:** Slack, Grammarly, Funkify, and G Suite worked without major issues. - **Font installation is limited:** Chrome OS does not currently support custom typefaces, though Google Fonts provides many alternatives. - **Internet access matters:** Offline functionality exists, but cloud-based workflows are strongest when connected. Touchscreens are useful for scrolling and navigating canvases. ## Choosing Chromebook Hardware - The author tested an HP Chromebook, the touchscreen-and-stylus Samsung Pro, and eventually chose the Google Pixelbook. - The Pixelbook’s keyboard and trackpad were the deciding factors. - Although it started at $999, it cost less than one-third of the author’s previous MacBook Pro. - Cheaper devices, including the $85 Chromebit, could also support lightweight workflows. ## Cloud-Based Tools for a Complete Workflow - **Creating:** Figma, SuperHi, Google Slides, Paste, Grammarly, Google Docs, and Dropbox Paper. - **Organizing:** Asana, Google Tasks, Bonsai, Notion, and 1Password X. - **Messaging and meetings:** Signal, Telegram, Slack, and Google Meet. - **Media:** Spotify and Pocket Casts. - The author still used a Mac for Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro, since video and audio editing remained desktop-focused. ## The Web as a Design Platform - Cloud software eliminates much of the burden of saving and backing up files. - Files are accessible from any browser rather than being tied to a particular device. - Advancements such as WebGL demonstrate that browsers can handle sophisticated, real-time applications. - The web’s openness and accessibility make it an increasingly viable platform for professional software. Overall, designers who primarily use cloud-based tools can confidently consider a Chromebook, especially if affordability, portability, and synchronized files are priorities. Those dependent on custom fonts or advanced media-production software may still need a traditional computer.

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Slack Figma Webgl Chromebook+4

figmaApr 3, 20183 min readCurated summary

How Figma helped Sounds app reach 150k likes on Facebook | Figma Blog

Sounds app grew its Facebook page from a neglected channel with 14,000 fans and roughly 20 likes per post to more than 150,000 likes in under five months. Instead of hiring an agency, the company used audience research, reusable Figma templates, and modest targeted ad spending to create more engaging content in-house. The result was stronger organic reach at a fraction of the projected agency cost. ## Starting with Limited Resources - Sounds app’s marketing lead also handled community management, artist relations, and customer support. - An outside agency would have cost approximately $3,000–$5,000 or more per month, excluding advertising. - Facebook initially produced about 20 likes per post and reached only around 500 of the page’s 14,000 followers. ## Building a Repeatable Content Process - The team analyzed successful Facebook pages in the music, media, and app categories to identify high-performing content formats. - The designer created branded templates that could be quickly adapted with different artist images. - Templates were built in Figma rather than Photoshop so a non-designer could edit them easily. ## Figma Enabled Faster Collaboration - Figma worked across platforms, avoided expensive software licenses, and offered an approachable interface. - After a Slack session and a short screen-recorded tutorial, the marketing lead could create and publish content independently. - This eliminated delays caused by coordinating with a designer in another time zone and made it possible to act on ideas immediately. ## Measuring Results with Small Ad Budgets - The team began publishing Figma-created content in late October 2017 and used custom Branch links to track app downloads. - Posts that previously received 10–20 likes began generating thousands of likes, comments, and shares. - Weekly reach exceeded one million, and Facebook page likes grew to 60,000 by February 2018 and more than 150,000 the following month. - The team typically spent about $5 per post, increasing to $10 for especially successful content, with daily Facebook and Instagram spending capped at $25. - Paid reach generated additional organic sharing, increasing overall visibility. ## Lessons for Small Marketing Teams - Non-designers can produce effective social content when given channel-specific templates and accessible tools. - Successful social marketing depends more on understanding the audience and its preferred content than on formal marketing credentials. - Limited budgets can still produce substantial growth when teams experiment, measure results, and refine their approach. - The in-house strategy cost less than $3,000 in ad spending, compared with an estimated $20,000 for an agency over the same period. For lean teams, the article recommends combining reusable templates, audience research, tracking links, and controlled experimentation instead of assuming social growth requires an expensive agency.

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Slack Figma Spotify Photoshop+4

datadogAug 15, 20173 min readCurated summary

Improving cloud security visibility with ChatOps

Datadog built a largely serverless AWS security monitoring pipeline to detect suspicious API activity across more than 15 AWS accounts. Rather than process every CloudTrail event equally, it categorizes actions as log, notify, or alert, reducing false positives while preserving broad visibility. The system centralizes events, batches activity, and uses automated workflows to verify engineers’ actions or escalate potential compromises. ## The Security Monitoring Challenge - Datadog manages extensive AWS infrastructure across multiple accounts and nearly 200 geographically distributed engineers. - Every console or CLI operation generates an AWS API call, creating a high-volume CloudTrail data stream. - The monitoring system must detect malicious activity while also catching accidental exposure caused by configuration mistakes. - Processing every event manually would require an expensive, constantly staffed Security Operations Center. ## Prioritizing Relevant API Calls - Datadog maintains a focused list of security-relevant AWS API calls and assigns each to one of three categories: - **Log:** Lower-risk events retained for investigation, such as `CreateGroup` or `UpdateUser`. - **Notify:** Events that require the initiating engineer to confirm their identity and intent, such as `CreateUser` or `PutUserPolicy`. - **Alert:** Rare, dangerous, or clearly misconfigured actions sent directly to the security team. - A representative alert is `AuthorizeSecurityGroupIngress` with `0.0.0.0/0`, which exposes an EC2 security group to the entire Internet. - User verification reduces false positives and helps identify compromised AWS credentials. ## Cross-Account Event Pipeline - CloudTrail records API activity in each AWS account. - CloudWatch Event Rules filter for the selected API calls and publish matching events to SNS. - SNS forwards events across accounts to an SQS queue in a dedicated security AWS account. - Centralization is necessary because CloudWatch could not directly send events cross-account to SQS. - The queue also supports batching, which is important when Terraform generates many AWS changes in a short period. - A CloudWatch rule triggers a Lambda function every two minutes to drain the SQS queue and forward events to the security orchestration layer. ## Automated Decision-Making with Komand - Datadog uses Komand, a security orchestration and automation platform, to construct workflows from built-in and custom plugins. - A custom decision plugin evaluates: - The calling user - The event’s age - Request parameters and their content - Other contextual details - Based on the analysis, the workflow silently logs the event, notifies the engineer, or pages the security team through PagerDuty. ## Engineer Verification and Escalation - For notification-level events, the engineer receives an interactive Slack message containing API call details. - Confirming the action triggers a Duo push for second-factor identity verification. - If the engineer denies the action or fails to respond promptly, the workflow alerts the security team. - Komand coordinates the Slack, Duo, PagerDuty, and custom integration logic in one centralized workflow. ## Visibility and Continuous Improvement - Every workflow execution is logged and sent to Elasticsearch. - The resulting data helps Datadog visualize security events, measure detection effectiveness, identify behavioral trends, and improve alerting. - The pipeline is designed to provide actionable security intelligence without overwhelming engineers or security personnel. Datadog’s approach combines selective event filtering, cross-account centralization, batching, and automated identity verification. Organizations facing similar AWS-scale monitoring challenges can use the same principles to reduce alert fatigue while maintaining strong detection and response capabilities.

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Slack AWS Terraform Security Monitoring+4

figmaMay 21, 20172 min readCurated summary

How Braintree Cut Time Spent on Design Critiques by 50% | Figma Blog

Braintree redesigned its critique process by replacing static presentations and follow-up meetings with real-time collaboration in Figma. Designers worked together in the same file during Slack audio calls, making and demonstrating changes immediately. This cut critique time by roughly 50% while also improving collaboration and simplifying developer hand-offs. ## Challenges with Traditional Critiques - Designers typically presented work, collected feedback, and worked alone afterward. - Feedback could be misunderstood or difficult to apply correctly. - Follow-up meetings were needed to review revisions and address new issues. - After PayPal acquired Braintree, multiple design teams, style guides, services, and developer groups increased coordination complexity. ## Finding Figma - Braintree’s Developer Experience team experimented with new critique methods. - Figma’s browser-based, collaborative files allowed designers to work together regardless of device or location. - Designers joined an audio Slack call and opened the same file instead of scheduling several in-person meetings. - Figma’s observation mode let one designer follow another’s screen and move through different frames in real time. ## Collaborative Work Instead of Static Feedback - Designers could duplicate an artboard and make changes while discussing the design. - Feedback became concrete and immediately understandable rather than being recorded as notes for later. - Team members brainstormed, explored alternatives, and combined the strongest elements of multiple designs. - Craig Wattrus estimated that critiques took 50% less time because collaborators could demonstrate ideas directly. - The process often produced better results than one designer working independently and applying feedback later. ## Faster Developer Hand-off - Designers shared a single link with developers instead of repeatedly exporting updated files. - Designers could explain interactions and demonstrate behavior directly in the shared file. - Developers received answers immediately, reducing long message exchanges. - Design and engineering teams needed fewer meetings to clarify how interfaces were intended to work. Braintree’s experience suggests that real-time, shared design files can turn critiques into productive collaboration sessions. Teams looking to reduce review cycles and improve design-to-development communication should consider working together directly in the design artifact rather than relying on presentation-based feedback.

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Slack Figma User Experience Real Time Collaboration+2

figmaDec 14, 20152 min readCurated summary

Slack From the Start | Figma Blog

Figma chose to build its collaboration experience around Slack rather than recreate messaging and notification features. User research showed that Slack was already central to designers’ daily workflows and correlated with more transparent collaboration. By making a Figma team a Slack team and routing notifications through Slack, Figma aimed to reduce tool fragmentation and strengthen its core product. ## Why Slack Mattered to Figma’s Users - Figma interviewed many designers about file storage, specifications, and product decisions. - More than half of the designers surveyed reported using Slack throughout the day. - Slack adoption was associated with more open and transparent design processes. ## Building on Slack Instead of Duplicating It - Figma considered recreating communication features inside its own product. - The team rejected that approach because it would create another inbox and require users to manage teams in two places. - Instead, Figma built its collaboration model on top of Slack: - A Figma team corresponded to a Slack team. - Figma file notifications were delivered through Slack. - Communication about design remained connected to users’ existing workflows. ## A Strategic Platform Bet - Figma viewed Slack as a platform well before Slack formally celebrated its platform launch. - Deep integration was considered a significant product and business bet. - Early results suggested the strategy was working, and Figma expected other companies to adopt similar integrations. The practical lesson is to integrate with tools users already rely on rather than reproducing their functionality. For Figma, treating Slack as foundational reduced friction and made collaboration feel like part of an existing workflow.

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Slack Figma Collaboration Api Integration+2