Internal Things: Building Internal Tools at Netflix

A presentation at SoCal ReactJS in May 2019 in Venice, Los Angeles, CA, USA by Trent Willis

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Open Connect

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Actually Netflix

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BUILDING INTERNAL TOOLS AT

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Trent Willis Senior UI Engineer Insight Engineering @trentmwillis

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Insight Engineering @trentmwillis

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Insight Engineering “Enable real-time operational insights for Netflix Engineers” @trentmwillis

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Insight Engineering “Enable real-time operational insights for Netflix Engineers” @trentmwillis

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Insight Engineering “Enable real-time operational insights for Netflix Engineers” @trentmwillis

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Not always “glamorous” @trentmwillis

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Not always “glamorous”, but rewarding and important @trentmwillis

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Improve the day-to-day experience for others @trentmwillis

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Improve the day-to-day experience for your co-workers @trentmwillis

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Build a foundation for others to succeed @trentmwillis

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Build a foundation for your company to succeed @trentmwillis

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Create something different (The world of Web Development is vast) @trentmwillis

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Lumen bit.ly/netflix-lumen @trentmwillis

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Imagine you’re watching Netflix… @trentmwillis

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@trentmwillis

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@trentmwillis

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@trentmwillis

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@trentmwillis

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Meanwhile in the Netflix cloud… @trentmwillis

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@trentmwillis (*image above is not how it actually happens…)

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@trentmwillis (*also not how it actually happens…)

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@trentmwillis (*we also do not employ Pokémon)

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@trentmwillis

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Don’t describe your work by jargon. Describe it by the value it brings. @trentmwillis

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@trentmwillis

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@trentmwillis

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How do we support any data source? @trentmwillis

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Web Workers @trentmwillis

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@trentmwillis

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Weaving Webs of Workers noti.st/trentmwillis/RxTcdy/weaving-webs-of-workers @trentmwillis

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How do we visualize any data? @trentmwillis

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Mapper functions @trentmwillis

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evil @trentmwillis

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eval @trentmwillis

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Address your user’s needs and fun challenges will abound @trentmwillis

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How do internal projects change the day-to-day job? @trentmwillis

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You work directly with customers. (For better or worse.) @trentmwillis

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Development → Feedback (yay!) @trentmwillis

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Development ← Feedback (meh) @trentmwillis

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Your users are less technologically diverse. @trentmwillis

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Support policies are different. More limited. @trentmwillis

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Freedom! @trentmwillis

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Freedom? @trentmwillis

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The technologies don’t really change. @trentmwillis

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The technologies don’t really change. The people do. @trentmwillis

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How do you measure the success of internal products? @trentmwillis

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Success is different. @trentmwillis

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Functionality > Aesthetics @trentmwillis

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Your customers don’t necessarily have choices. @trentmwillis

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Your customers don’t necessarily have choices, but they have needs. @trentmwillis

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Stability & Reliability > New Features @trentmwillis

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Not impacting existing workflows is (usually) more important than enabling new workflows @trentmwillis

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Customer Satisfaction > Growth @trentmwillis

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Successful internal products grow. @trentmwillis

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Honestly, the differences aren’t that big. @trentmwillis

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Consider the possibilities. @trentmwillis

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Ask about internal things. @trentmwillis

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@trentmwillis

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@trentmwillis P.S. Tuca & Bertie is 🔥

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Thank you! Any questions? @trentmwillis P.S. My team is hiring! jobs.netflix.com/jobs/869498