Microsoft

During the summer of 2021, I was an intern for Microsoft’s Marvel team. For my project, I designed an onboarding experience for Microsoft internal employees so that when doing UX research they could assign and understand the process more easily.
On a macro level, I was working on defining the problem statement, doing user research, ideating design solutions, conducting usability testing, and I also collaborated with a cross-functional team of PMs and researchers on product strategy. While I can’t disclose the details of my project due to the NDA, feel free to contact me if you would like to learn more!

This was a truly  memorable summer. I could never have imagined how much I would learn, grow, and absorb these past few months---it was a truly transformative experience. Despite the internship being virtual, I still had so many great chances to work with amazing designers and make connections with them. Here are some of the biggest takeaways from my internship.

Through the wise words of my manager Carol Tyler, and my mentor Mary Miller. I realized how easily designers can get attached and get unconsciously get defensive when faced with averse opinions. However, it was evident how much more and faster I grew after attentively listening to differing opinions even deeper and actively seeking after the why’s and how’s of others’ thought processes. This really resonated with me early on, and I’ll be taking this sounding advice with me back to school, future side projects, and especially through my relationships with other people.

Especially with frequent design critiques and constant feedback gathering, I quickly figured out that my subconscious search for that “You’re done, let’s move on!” just wasn’t practical. The confidence in my designs I gained this summer was truly a valuable experience, and I learned to embrace ambiguity, continue to be curious, ask insightful questions, and push for new ideas.Maximize efficiency, utilize resources.

Initially, I had the misconception that the best work was always novel, innovative, and built-from-scratch. However, after familiarizing myself with our comprehensive design system and learning how to effectively use components and symbols, I became immensely more efficient and produced better work. Being able to build off others’ work and leveraging others’ designs made me a better designer and team player as well!