There’s one word that best describes what’s going on behind the curtains at Oracle Design. And that word is Legos. Don’t believe it? Just hear us out.
Yes, Hillel Cooperman, one of the folks behind the reboot of Oracle Design, just so happens to love Legos. He’s even given a TED Talk on the subject. But that’s not why this word so aptly describes the current state of things on his team.
Imagine a city street teeming with life and activity that’s composed entirely of Legos. We experience this scene as one cohesive experience. What’s less obvious is that this one joyful experience is composed of hundreds of tiny, perfectly-engineered units. Building blocks.
Legos. Legos of different shapes, sizes, colors, specificities, all perfectly coming together to create one seamless experience.
So it’s no wonder that Hillel has such a fondness for these building blocks. It’s clear that while the many building blocks at Oracle Design are infinitely more complex than a set of Legos, the general mindset is the same. Oracle is attempting to bring the same passion and joy that goes into building a Lego masterpiece into the process of growing a technology company in Silicon Valley.
The traditional experience of building a tech company is often divided into discreet units: Brand and Product. And these units are often viewed as working in separate streams with unique goals. To put it imply, Brand and Product don’t traditionally share the same set of Legos.
But things are changing. Oracle’s set of building blocks are vast. From machine learning, micro-interactions, and inclusive design to color theory, brand narratives, consumer-facing content, and everything in between, these units are more powerful when they come together in a unified effort.
And the most unifying part of the entire process: the people. People with deep expertise and passion for what they’re building. And like a good Lego sculpture, creating these experiences requires some framework to rely on. It requires collaboration, communication, and at the heart of it all, an openness to try new things, to experiment, and to commit to something delightful.
Hillel’s talk on June 21st at SFDW will dive into some of the day-to-day processes, struggles, endeavors, and learnings of a 140,000+ tech company that’s redesigning itself and its products. It’s all about how the people of Oracle maintain connections, both as colleagues as well as people who want to build amazing things with friends.
Photo by Alphacolor on Unsplash