Name: Chris-Anne Correa
Internship, Co-op or Research Site: Mindgrub Technologies
Position Title: Associate User Experience Designer/Information Architect
Major(s)/Minor(s): Human Centered Computing Master's
Expected Graduation Year: May 2016
Briefly describe your internship, co-op, or research opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.
This summer I will be completing two years of interning with Mindgrub Technologies as a User Experience Designer/Information Architect. During the course of this internship, I have worked with clients on a variety of projects which has given me the opportunity to wireframe for websites, iPad, mobile and even smart watch applications. My responsibilities include:
Sketching with my teammates as well as independently
Deep dive brainstorming sessions with my teammates
Research on the product, users, and competitors
Creation of sitemaps and functional requirements
Determination of Level of Effort (LOE) for the project
Wireframing the product in iterations (typically 3 iterations which are then presented to clients)
Internal presentation of my work to the team
Ping Pong tournaments (Mindgrub loves Ping Pong)
To sum it up, I work with clients to define the problem, conduct research on the user’s needs and create a vision of the product.
Describe the process of obtaining your internship, research, or co-op opportunity.
In the first semester of my Masters program in Human Centered Computing, I heard about Mindgrub through one of my class project mentors - Cassie Thompson from Student Support Services. I researched the company and found the type of work they do very appealing. I also liked their work environment and noticed that they had a User Experience team. I was excited about the prospect of working with them, so I sent them an email inquiring if they would consider hiring me as an intern on their User Experience Team. Human Resources at Mindgrub responded saying that they are always looking for interns and that they would get back to me about any potential opportunities that may arise. A few weeks later they emailed me saying that they now have an internship available on the User Experience Team and were interviewing candidates. I interviewed with them towards the end of my first semester as a grad student and started working with them during the summer of 2014.
What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?
I have enjoyed the company’s fun and enthusiastic work environment the most - many ping pong tournaments, monthly meetings with catered lunches, and plenty of team building outings. My favorite part is that interns are given hands on work with clients which has given me the opportunity to work on a wide variety of projects. This has enabled me to develop the skills and experience I need early on in my career.
How do you believe you have made an impact through your work?
One of my favorite mobile application projects that I worked on was a social project that helped prevent newly released prisoners from recidivism. I was able to design an experience that best suited their needs and helped connect them with resources like jobs, health care, food, and housing in their neighborhood. It made me happy knowing that my work was going to make a social impact by helping the users of this application to get back on their feet.
What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?
My advice is that it is very important to gain experience in your field while in school. It helps you define your career path and gives you a sense of direction. If you like your internship experience, it helps you understand what you want to do after you graduate. On the other hand, if you dislike your internship experience, it helps you narrow down your career choices. I feel both outcomes are a win-win situation and any experience you gain whether good or bad, you learn something from it. If you come across a company or an organization that you would like to work with and you don’t see any open intern positions, don’t hesitate to contact them expressing your interest. That’s what landed me my internship.
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]]>Name: Jatin Chhikara
Internship, Co-op or Research Site: Mozilla Corporation
Position Title: User Experience Design Engineer
Major(s)/Minor(s): Human-Centered Computing (Master's)
Expected Graduation Year: May 2016
Briefly describe your internship, co-op, or research opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.
My major responsibilities included: making new concepts that involve user centric design in prototyping for the Firefox desktop, and conducting user studies to check the new design concepts by making and testing user plans for the prototypes. In addition to this, I was also involved in user research for the Firefox desktop; my goal was to understand how users perceive and use Firefox in their daily life.
Describe the process of obtaining your internship, research, or co-op opportunity.
Mozilla was the first company where I applied for an internship at the end of last October. I found out about the internship program online through Mozilla's career website. Classes which I had that semester were directly related to the interview, so they helped me in preparation. I also watched lot of interviews of established icons, like Don Norman, related to UX domain to prepare.
What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?
The most exciting part of this internship was making a positive impact on millions of people all around the globe through my work. I have been given the responsibility to lead a project which is a great learning process. I am learning user centered design methodologies for making new concepts into reality from a UX point of view. The UX team for Firefox is geographically scattered all over the world, so daily communication (using different tools such as Vidyo and IRC) and weekly meetings helped me understand the dynamics of working with a geographically-dispersed team.
How do you believe you have made an impact through your work?
Three projects that I worked on will be implemented in the new version on Firefox in the future. This internship has given me opportunity to provide good user experience to millions of Firefox-users scattered around the globe. I am able to break all the barriers of countries and cultures by contributing to a product that is same for everyone. It has also helped me align my academic experience with the practical industry work from an engineer and designer's point of view.
What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?
The first piece of advice I would give is to start applying early as giant like Mozilla, Google, Facebook, etc. start hiring interns around November. I would suggest that know yourself well in terms of what knowledge, interests, and passions you have. Focus on what you want and give your all to that. A good online portfolio is a good way to share your existing projects and interests to the hiring manager. Seeking help from alumni and the Career Center will provide you with lot of opportunities to build network.
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