[Jakob] We're at the UX conference in San Francisco, and I'm with Yuno Cheng, who was our intern 3 years ago.
She has several articles on our website about her internship projects.
So, here, I'd like to focus on what happened after the internship.
First, Yuno, please tell us about the job you landed after you graduated.
[Yuno] Sure! Thank you, Jakob. So, as Jakob said, I was an intern three years ago, at Nielsen Norman Group.
And now, I'm a user experience researcher at LinkedIn, focusing on the member experience.
I've been working on a wide spectrum of different areas that you might also use LinkedIn,
such as connecting and networking.
So, at LinkedIn, our team's actually focusing on the whole process of the research
in the product development cycle, including foundational, formative, and evaluative.
So, recently actually, I have been experimenting with our lighter research project,
which is more on the program base and we do expert review and heuristic evaluation.
So yes we do have our internal in-house heuristic principles which was actually heavily based
on your classics, Jakob.
[Jakob] You've got an awesome job, Yuno! What do you think you got out of the internship
that helps you do that job?
[Yuno] First and foremost, the most important thing is that, after the internship,
I decided that research is something that I want to be working on after I graduate.
That's huge. So, that was my first taste of research that,
"Oh this is how awesome realized research can be, but also how wild it can go."
And I happened to like them both. So the feedback and the guidance,
and all the mentorship I got along the way also boosts my confidence in knowing that
this is the area that I will be able to learn, grow, and thrive.
Back then, that was a huge step for me; I'm constantly reminding myself to maintain that growth mindset
that I had when I was an intern.
On the practical side of things, the internship was also my first experience building my real research toolkit
from the field. Some of the research methodologies became helpful right away,
such as drafting discussion guides, deep listening, identify patterns and trends so on, so forth.
And some of them keep on bringing me these delightful successes and surprises,
even until today. For example, we have done the web usability research
using a remote unmoderated tool. So, recently our team actually brought
out a similar tool, and some of my teammates are like brand new to this area or this tool
in terms of setup or use cases. And, I still remember all those
best practices and the guidance you gave me three years ago, and now it's time for me
to bring those knowledge back to the team, and shine.
One thing that I'm still learning and growing in my current job, was something I got, advice from you:
Communication and storytelling. For example, sometimes I feel our job is to
take the whole team to the edge of their comfort zone and do a reality check.
How to tell that story and build that empathy with the team without pointing fingers or hurting feelings
could be challenging. I got that feedback from you on one of my research project reports.
I'm better now, I'm way better now! But still.
It really takes time and effort, as well as being consciously self-aware about it, always.
So, I do appreciate that you share that piece of feedback with me back then,
three years ago, which I'm still learning and benefiting from it.
Super! Do you have any feedback for current students in what to look for in a UX internship?
Of course! First and foremost, always look for the right people.
Your fellow teammates, your project's cross-functional partners, and most importantly your mentor or manager--
Their support and mentorship will be instrumental to build your first impression towards
the real world as a UX professional. Also, learning from these professionals with real experiences,
for sure, you're not getting every day, when you are in school.
And secondly, look for the right project.
Listen for the projects and the ones that you really want to learn and get better with,
and ask if you're able to conduct studies or shadow them.
You will be surprised how much you can learn in just one project and one internship, just as I did.
[Jakob] Thank you, Yuno. Your career is really off to a great start,
and I think you're going to go very far in this field.
[Yuno] Thank you so much!
[Jakob] Thank you!