Zhiyu is a Test Engineer at Houzz. While front and back end engineers build what users see, Zhiyu creates tools to help fellow Houzz engineers do their jobs quickly without compromising quality. When not at work, he’s busy exploring the Bay Area and trying new adventures like riding a glider over the mountains of Hollister, CA.

Why did you come to work at Houzz?
A few months before I came to work here, I bought my first home. Although I had some basic items from my previous apartment, there was a lot of empty space. My friends told me about Houzz, and I got addicted to using it on a daily basis to make my new place feel like home. Houzz helped me find ideas on how to decorate, and I created ideabooks for my living room, bedroom, kitchen, and even the outdoor landscaping. I didn’t know how to describe my style at first, but the photos that I gravitated towards tended to be contemporary or eclectic. I even bought furniture through the platform, inspired by the photos I had liked.

When I started to hear more about Houzz in the news, I decided to do some research on the company. I watched videos of the founders, Alon and Adi, talking about the company, and they gave a window into the people and culture. I remember thinking, “I love this product. And I love what the company stands for. That’s the kind of company I want to work for.” So I applied online.

What’s your favorite part of working at Houzz?
When I joined Houzz in August of 2014, we had 200 employees. Now, we’re at over 700 people globally. As the company continues to grow, I feel like I’m also growing because new questions and challenges arise that give me and my team the opportunity to problem-solve and make decisions together. So I guess my favorite part of working at Houzz is feeling that I’m a part of this growth, contributing to something that I believe in, and learning along the way.

What do you like to do outside of work?
I love travel and outdoor activities. I try to spend one day each weekend exploring the Bay Area and doing something new, whether it’s hiking in a state park, whale watching, or horseback riding. There are so many beautiful parks, and the scenery changes as seasons change, so it’s difficult to get bored. Recently, I did a glider ride in Hollister, CA- which was amazing. It feels like flying outside of a plane and soaring over mountains like a bird. Next, I want to try kayaking off the Sonoma Coast to see the bioluminescent plankton glowing at night.

What should an engineering candidate know about working at Houzz?
When I interviewed, I was surprised to learn that the engineering team was a flat organization. Since Houzz is a relatively mature start-up, it was difficult for me to imagine how it could operate without layers of structure. But it actually works well, because everyone understands the product goal and their role in helping to reach that goal. Our co-founders, Alon and Adi, trust the people they hire to make decisions, so we have minimal meetings and don’t need to request approval for every little thing. It’s a great way to work.

For a testing engineer candidate in particular, the experience can be different from company to company. Some companies require a lot of manual testing, which can be repetitive work. At Houzz, it’s different. Developers share the responsibility of doing manual testing, and test engineers spend 80% or more of our time writing automation and building test frameworks. It’s more creative, and there are always new projects and challenges.

Gary is a back-end engineer at Houzz whose responsibilities include infrastructure, platform architecture, and scaling. Outside of work, he loves to play – whether he’s on the basketball court shooting hoops with friends, at his piano playing song after song, or with his three-year-old son doing anything at all.

How did you get into computer science?
Ever since I was a kid, I always liked to build stuff. I played with Legos and built toy models. I loved having the freedom to create with my hands whatever I imagined in my mind. There was a great sense of satisfaction that came from making something out of nothing.

When I was a teenager, my mom bought me my first computer. That gave me the first taste of what a computer program was and the impact a computer can have on our daily lives. It was fun to play games, of course. But I was also excited by everything you could do on a computer, from typing documents and then printing them onto physical paper, to drawing graphs and diagrams, to searching and finding information that previously could have only been found in a hard-copy encyclopedia.

During my freshman year in college, I was deciding between medicine, architecture and computer science as my major. I ended up going the computer science route because it really combines my love of computers and the designing/building process.

What’s your favorite part of working at Houzz?
You know you’ve found a great place to work when you enjoy it so much that it doesn’t feel like work at all. It really boils down to two things: people and interest.

Everyone here is smart. But there’s no ego. Everyone is collaborative and likes to help each other out. Since you have people with similar values and interests, the team here is a close bunch. We often hang out at night or on weekends. My colleagues at Houzz are not just coworkers; many of them have become life-long friends.

And the work we do together is really interesting. Of all the things you build here, no two days are alike, so you never get bored.

What should an engineering candidate know about working at Houzz?
We put tremendous effort into finding the right cultural fit. We want people who are technically strong and also gel with the way we work. Since there is a flat structure, self-driven motivation and taking responsibility for your projects are key to success. People here have a strong sense of ownership and take pride in what they do.

What’s your favorite thing you’ve worked on at Houzz?
People browse millions of photos and products on the site based on the search infrastructure that I helped build. It’s a great feeling to contribute to an aspect of the site that people love so much. As more and more people learn about Houzz, the number of users on the site continues to increase, and we need to ensure the site is built to handle that growth. That’s one of the technical challenges I enjoy most – scaling work, building the platform to support that continuously increasing user base.

What’s your favorite Houzz experience?
One of the many highlights for me is our annual Houzz retreat, where the entire company spends two days together at an offsite location. It’s a chance for people to step back from their daily work and think about what we can do next for Houzz. We have group sessions to brainstorm ideas with colleagues from different cross-functional teams. In the end, each group presents their thinking to the rest of the company. It’s exciting to imagine what’s next together.

How do you use Houzz at home?
My wife and mom are heavy Houzz users. My wife likes to browse the Houzz app anytime she’s waiting in a line somewhere to pass the time in a way that’s more fun, and also in bed before going to sleep. She gets so excited to show me cool photos on the site or cool features that she found on our app. Right now, my wife and mom are collecting ideas for two remodeling projects in our home: our guest bathroom and our backyard. My wife likes contemporary styles, whereas my mom is more on the traditional side, so it makes for some interesting discussions. My role is to just make sure that whatever design they decide, it’s within our budget! I happen to know firsthand that Houzz offers a variety of ideas and products for every budget. I just need to remind them of that occasionally.