How to Build a UX Internship from the Ground UpMarch 6, 2019
Laura Greenwald
Sneha Sharma
Introduction
Laura Greenwald Sneha SharmaCommunications Manager
Cleveland ClinicWeb Usability Intern
Cleveland Clinic
Agenda
01
02 04
03 05Lessons Learned
Business Case: An intern’s experience
Who? What? Why?
Design: How to?
UX Internship
Lessons
Learned
Business
CaseDesign
Who? What?
Why?UX Internship
What’s a UX Internship?
UX Internship
• Information about the internship - How did it start?
- What do interns do?
• Stakeholders- Intern
- Organization
• Current career path and background on UX individuals
Lessons
Learned
Business
CaseDesign
Who? What?
Why?UX Internship
Current UX Disciplines
Lessons
Learned
Business
CaseDesign
Who? What?
Why?UX Internship
To
p th
ree
mo
st
co
mm
on
ba
ckg
rou
nd
s
Career Path
U
X
Lessons
Learned
Business
CaseDesign
Who? What?
Why?UX Internship
Current UX roles
• Over 210 different job titles for UX roles- UX Designer
- UX Researcher
- UX Developer
• Most common role: “user experience designer,” but only 6% of people in UX have this role
Lessons
Learned
Business
CaseDesign
Who? What?
Why?UX Internship
Empathy Curiosity Communication
Skills
Critical Skills
Lessons
Learned
Business
CaseDesign
Who? What?
Why?UX Internship
Lessons
Learned
Business
CaseDesign
Who? What?
Why?UX Internship
Multitude of roles and responsibilities
Lack of training and diverse educational background
UX
Internship
Bridging the gap
Lessons
Learned
Business
CaseDesign
Who? What?
Why?UX Internship
Who should have a UX internship role in their
organization?
UX Facts
Lessons
Learned
Business
CaseDesign
Who? What?
Why?UX Internship
90% of users
reported they
stopped using an
app because of
poor performance
84% of
companies
expect to
increase their
focus on
customer
experience and
metrics
Slow loading
websites cost
retailers more
than $2 billion in
lost sales each
year
90% 84% $2B 88%
88% of online
consumers are
less likely to
return to a site
after a bad
experience
UX Facts
Lessons
Learned
Business
CaseDesign
Who? What?
Why?UX Internship
Lessons
Learned
Business
CaseDesign
Who? What?
Why?UX Internship
How to design the internship program?
Design Requirements
Lessons
Learned
Business
CaseDesign
Who? What?
Why?UX Internship
01
Right Candidate
Networking
02
External
01
03
02 Internal
Resources
Mentorship
Project
Resources
Technical
Financial
Educational
Lessons
Learned
Business
CaseDesign
Who? What?
Why?UX Internship
Mentorship
Lessons
Learned
Business
CaseDesign
Who? What?
Why?UX Internship
Provide proper guidance to the intern along the internship
process
Set up a learning development plan and
let the intern own it
Give constructive feedback using the
Ask-Tell-Ask method
GuidanceSelf-directed
Learning Feedback
Ask-Tell-Ask
Lessons
Learned
Business
CaseDesign
Who? What?
Why?UX Internship
Ask
What went well?
Tell
What you think went
well and what could be
improved: limit 2
Ask
What could have gone
better or what were
some challenges you
experienced?
CounselingCoaching
Identifying the right candidate
Lessons
Learned
Business
CaseDesign
Who? What?
Why?UX Internship
Expectations
Learnability
Candidate’s Goals
Schedule/
Timelines
Project Experience
Lessons
Learned
Business
CaseDesign
Who? What?
Why?UX Internship
Onboarding
Expectations
Documentation
Hand over
Team introductions
Understanding the project goals
Creating timelines to ensure project goals are being achieved
Documenting progress: project and learner
Using standardized nomenclature for hand over
Knowledge transfer for future work
Ensuring hand over resources are included
Assigning a work buddy
Project
Networking
Lessons
Learned
Business
CaseDesign
Who? What?
Why?UX Internship
Professional
EventsUXPA
Cleveland
Meet
&
GreetConferences Online
Lessons
Learned
Business
CaseDesign
Who? What?
Why?UX Internship
Business Case: An intern’s experience
Lessons
Learned
Business
CaseDesign
Who? What?
Why?UX Internship
UXTraining
ProfessionalGrowth
PersonalGrowth
Project Overview
Lessons
Learned
Business
CaseDesign
Who? What?
Why?UX Internship
Lessons
Learned
Business
CaseDesign
Who? What?
Why?UX Internship
Ask – Tell – Ask Demo
Lessons
Learned
Business
CaseDesign
Who? What?
Why?UX Internship
Lessons
Learned
Business
CaseDesign
Who? What?
Why?UX Internship
Lessons Learned
Lessons Learned
Lessons
Learned
Business
CaseDesign
Who? What?
Why?UX Internship
Project choice
Reasonable timelines
Expectations
Assess
Q&A
Appendix
Sources
• https://github.com/envisprecisely/disciplines-of-ux
• https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ux-career-advice/
• https://media.nngroup.com/media/reports/free/User_Experience_Careers.pdf
• https://uxplanet.org/10-must-have-skills-for-ux-designers-8ce53c30d4ee
• https://uxmastery.com/4-myths-career-ux-design/
• https://www.impactbnd.com/blog/user-experience-stats-infographic
• https://www.toptal.com/designers/ux/ux-statistics-insights-infographic