EMBRACE AMBIGUITY AS AN OPPORTUNITY
Throughout this internship, I’ve learned to navigate large amounts of ambiguity and constantly adapt to changes in requirements and scope. While I initially found it challenging to deal with, I ultimately realized the importance of embracing ambiguity as an opportunity to explore new ideas and challenge preconceived notions. When given just a scope and feature, I learned to continuously make progress, finding a balance between “diving deep” into my explorations and recognizing when it’s sufficient to move on. Additionally, I proactively sought insights and feedback from customers, fellow designers, researchers, and subject matter experts to better inform my design decisions.
CONSTANTLY QUESTION THE PRESENT
During this internship, I learned how to effectively work within technical constraints and limitations of the current framework while continuously pushing to improve the current customer experience. One project I worked on allowed me to explore ideas beyond the initial scope, in which I realized that while there are design limitations in time-sensitive projects, there is still value in discovering what the ideal CX could be. From working on this team, I gained a deeper understanding of voice design and the significance of time-based UX, considering diverse contexts, whether in sovereign or transient states, and how they shape the customer experience. It encouraged me to regularly question the status quo and the metrics underpinning current design, urging me to question whether they genuinely reflect the customer experience if the data is simply a reaction to presented options. My project, in particular, was in the context of touch-forward versus voice-forward interfaces, and this introspection drove me to constantly question in order to push for a better customer experience.
ADVOCATE FOR DESIGN
From sitting in cross-functional team meetings and leadership reviews, I was able to witness how industry designers collaborate, advocate, and defend their design decisions. Through this exposure and multiple 1:1 conversations with other members on the team, I was able to gain valuable insights into navigating the balance between advocating for customer needs and meeting overarching business objectives. This internship emphasized the significance of design advocacy and equipped me with techniques for doing so, such as learning how to effectively communicate with non-designers to ultimately deliver user-centric design solutions that also contribute to the long-term success of the organization.
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