IBM
The Rundown
IBM's Cloud Pak for Data provides users with a single, unified place to host multiple cloud environments. As a UX Designer, I focused on improving the experience of managing and creating new on-premise instances, staying Carbon-aligned. My side projects spanned a research and redesign project of transforming code-based commands into a user interface, building branded replay slide decks for bi-annual releases, and updating the design team's photo wall!
ROLE
UX Design Intern
TIMELINE
May - Aug 2024
SKILLS
UX Design
UI Design
UX Research
Design System
TOOLS
Figma
Mural
Monday
Apple Keynote
This was an incredible summer for me as a designer—here are some of my big takeaways:
Feed curiosity! Stay hungry.
Entering the enterprise design space this summer, there was a lot I didn't know—terminology, information architecture, design processes, but there were equally, if not more, opportunities to feed this initial gap in knowledge. Questions, coffee chats, workshops, and self-dug rabbit-holes all led to a more solid understanding of the design processes, people, and work I was immersed in this summer.
Iteration is your best friend.
Compared to courses in college, where designs are churned out for speed and grades, it was nice to have the time and space to design for MVPs, blue-sky scenarios, and other possibilities in between. I struggled initially with wanting things to be perfect on the first try (impossible, I know), but discussions, examining prior designs within IBM, and feedback sessions with designers/pms/devs yielded even better results in the long run.
Communicate—well, and concisely.
Designers, just like every other role, don't work in silos. From Slack messages, to 1-on-1 meetings, to Data & AI org meetings with hundreds of attendees, I realized effective and efficient communication was at the forefront of having people hear, not just receive your message. In a world where everyone's managing their own work, team, and then some, respecting people's time is important. This summer, I honed in on 2 aspects of my communication: being able to break down designs and design concepts to developers and PMs in other product areas, and balancing thought with clarity in my communication.
