I was the youngest design intern at Microsoft, working on enterprise products for millions of users. I worked there over two summers.
Product Concept & Moonshot Project (2015)
I worked with the Outlook Design Studio, creating a moonshot design proposal focusing on the intersection of team communication, collaboration and email. My responsibilities included end-to-end design from user research, ideation, prototyping, UX design, visual design to final concepts. I presented my findings to Office365 executive leadership and the Corporate Vice President.
Fun fact: I didn't have a laptop for up to 5 weeks of my internship due to some logistical issues, so I did all my design work on paper for the first half of my internship. I presented paper prototypes and analog designs to the leadership teams. :)
Big Data and the Future of Productivity (2016)
I collaborated with a small team on a product pivot based on research and testing. The work involved working with teams across machine learning, big data, and enterprise productivity. Also helped an integrate an acquired big data startup into the Microsoft ecosystem.
I met the most incredible interns then, and it felt like joining a new university. I met my future cofounder there too.
I miss biking the challenging route from Bellevue to Redmond daily for a few months. :)
Thank you to my mentors Kris, Stef, Eric, and Andy. And if you're ever at the Microsoft Redmond campus, I highly recommend the Mongolian stir fry at Cafe 31. I came back for a second internship just to have more of it.
