ABOUT
During the 5-month internship at frog, I was part of a team to design a unique marketplace that connects independent talent with job opportunities at the client company. It is a place where talent can learn about open positions, apply for them, and network with the employees.
This project is currently under a non-disclosure agreement. But I could discuss it in person.
ROLE
Research, Interaction Design
frog design is a global strategy and design firm. It partners with fortune 500 companies to anticipate the future, evolve organizations and advance the human experience. Its services expand from product strategy, research, product and service design.
2 Projects in 5 Months
During the internship at frog, I had been engaged in two projects: One is to create a web application and iOS application for a client to find and match contractor or freelancer to their constant talent needs. Another one is to help a national wide waste management company redesign their e-commerce website for resident and small business customers. I spent most of my time working on the first project.
Accomplishment
Shipped Products: My first One as Interaction Designer
The greatest accomplishment of my internship is the shipped products. One product was shipped during 02/2016. It is my first time getting my design shipped as an interaction designer. I hope it has made some people's work and life happier than before.
Working Like a Real Designer: My Goal for the Internship
frog didn’t treat me as a "small" intern. I was given the trust and responsibility to work and make a real impact. I enjoyed the freedom to shadow any calls, meetings, and workshops even though I was not invited in the first place, which I think is the best way to learn. I can always watch people working by sitting next to them, or asking them questions when they are free. I worked full time on client projects, which made sure that I could contribute to the project like others. This was something I asked during the start of my internship, and I think it was achieved more than I expected.
Read another case study
FROG INTERNSHIP PROJECT
To design a talent and job marketplace web app for freelancers, recruiter, and hiring managers.
TEAM
Michael Smith, Principal Designer
Chad Lundberg, Interaction Designer
Lingshuang Chen, Interaction Design Intern
Rachel Hobart, Visual Designer
Zach Marley, Project Manager
iLan Epstein, Associate Technology Director
and more
TIME
06/2015 - 12/2015
IMPACT
The beta version was launched by our client in 02/2016, with more features under development.
WHAT IS FROG DESIGN
WHAT I DID
or, Back to Work
PROCESS & RESPONSIBILITY
As an interaction designer in the teams, I wore multiple hats: from strategist, information architect, interaction designer to content strategist.
Learn from Stakeholders and Users
During the learning phase, I straightened out the requirement document from the client, shadowed all the interviews with users and stakeholders, and mapped out the journey and flows to help us understand the relations among components within the whole system. To understand the best practices within a certain domain, I conducted secondary research online and created comprehensive trend scrape document with examples and analysis.
Communication: My first Foray into an English-speaking Work Environment
The most important thing I learned from my internship is communication, especially in English. I hadn’t work in a complete English-speaking work environment before. Using my second language all the time to communicate with coworkers and clients were a big challenge for me when I first started. But I was so lucky that the people around me understood my situation and offered me help when needed. One thing that I did well was that I’m not afraid to ask when I didn’t understand. I also dared to talk aloud even though I may make mistakes. The more I talk, the more I realized that people didn’t care about small grammar or pronunciation issues, as long as the intention of my thoughts are correctly conveyed.
System Thinking: Keep Looking, Reading and Thinking
System thinking is a way of thinking and making decisions at a high level, seeing what's behind the surface now and in the future. During my 1 on 1 meeting with my manager, he talked about that many junior designers he saw lack the ability to go beyond the pixel and screens, and the interest to go to organizational level. While it’s important to know how to craft things, what’s more important is the ability to think WHY they are doing this, and WHAT gets them going. After I finished my internship, I've been pushing myself thinking things at a higher level, and reading more about philosophy, psychology, sociology, technology, etc., things that help me understand what's behind the world I see and interact everyday. I found it very inspiring.
What I Learned
Kanban Board: Create Shared Knowledge of Process
The project manager created the Kanban Board to facilitate the coordination among interaction designer, visual designer and design technologist. It was put in an open area where everyone could get a sense of what was going on and updated the status when needed.
(Image Credit: http://leankit.com/learn/kanban/kanban-board/)
Axure Team Project: Collaborative Prototyping & Iteration
Interaction designers work in Axure for the same project file, it enables us to work at the same time and update chage afterwards.
(Image Credit: http://www.kyecass.com/ux/wireframing/axure/ux-challenges-part1-wireframing-in-a-ux-team-and-version-control/)
Jira: Extensive Collaboration with Cross-continent Development Team
During the implementation phase, our team needed to collaborate with the development team from the client's side. It was the tool they used and we were invited to facilitate the implementation of design. When a bug was found, designers or technologists on our side would solve the issue and update the ticket.
(Image Credit: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira)
Ideation and Interaction Design
In the ideation phase, I created sketch with marker pens and Wacom tablet to validate concepts with client and users during participatory design session. Once the scope of a feature was defined, I thought deeper into use cases and visualized the interface framework with suitable interaction modals and content. When I designed the responsive UI, I kept all platforms in mind at the same time - I made mobile decisions on a desktop and vice versa.
Requirement Card Sorting: Get the Team Aligned on the Goal
The requirement document from the client was a long excel sheet with more than 200 items for UI design. The requirements were very into interface details and specific functions and terms, which didn't correlated tightly with what we need as designers. In order to have a better alignment of the project goal, we printed out the short versions of the requirements on paper cards, color coded with three themes: "we're on the same page", "help us understand", and "what's driving these". In a workshop with client, we discuessed the requirements with the stakeholders briefly and identified the real goals for the project.
Usability Testing
When the first design phase ended, the team conducted usability test with several participants remotely, we idenfied some issues and prioritized them according to their importance and urgency. Along with the feedback from the stakeholders, we iterated on the design to solve the problems.
Collaboration
During the hi-fi prototyping and implementation phase, I worked with visual designers and developers to ensure the design got properly interpreted. We followed the agile development method to collaborate and iterate on design and development in a short period of time. When the project expanded to cross-continent size, challenges rose as in collaboration within interaction designers, and with other roles. We used tool such as Axure team project, Kanban board and Jira for version and progress control.
Journey Mapping: Think in System Level
When I had a feature to design, the first thing I looked at was the overall flows: how it fits into the system with other components, and the steps for getting the task done. I considered not only interactions happening on the screen, but also who was involved (both online and offline), when, at what kind of situation, other tools they would use, etc.. I discussed and validated my understanding with others. Then I identified pages we need to design, and sort them into design sprints or split the work with other designers.
LOOKING BACK
Appreciation
The opportunity wouldn't fall on me if Michael hasn't read that LinkedIn message I sent uninvitedly. frog was a place that I didn't dare to think about working for. I'd been extremely lucky to work with a group of super smart and kind people there. I appreciate everything you've taught and impacted me.
At the end of my internship, I made these birch boards with laser cutter in the school maker space to show my deep appreciation of everyone I'd worked with.