Microsoft Internship - Cortana

I got an amazing opportunity to work as a Product design intern at Microsoft for a duration of 3 months in summer 2018. I worked at Microsoft AI and Research center in Cambridge with team Cortana to design a first-party skill for Millennials.

This internship gave me good exposure to a diverse aspect of product designing starting with field visits, user research, applying appropriate methods, drawing insights, developing prototypes, iterating designs and exploring visual and motion designs to achieve user goals. I was grouped with six other interns (four software developers, one program manager and one data scientist) and together we embarked on the journey of creating an impact on Millennials through our product. This internship gave me a sense of how design and technology interact with each other.

Due to NDA, I am unable to share project details publicly until team Cortana launches the product.

Role

UX design, Visual and motion design

Duration

Jun 2018 - Aug 2018

Tools

Adobe XD, Illustrator, After Effects, Premiere

My Journey

Case Study

Due to NDA, I wont be able to disclose the project. Please reach out to me to learn more about the problem I solved at Microsoft and my approach towards the problem space.

Team Cortana

Team Cortana during our product presentation at Redmond.

We won the award of ‘Growth mindset’ 

Learnings and Takeaways

Explore and Innovate
Don’t constrain yourself with the practicality rather explore several solutions and if required think out of the box. Multiple design ideas when combined can generate one solution that serves user goals.

Ask for critiques
Ask for feedback on designs as much as possible to resolve design issues during early stages so as to prevent any cost escalation or any delay in the timeline

Improve Networking
Networking helped me to connect with several User Researchers and UX designers across different teams within Microsoft. I got involved in healthy design discussions that gave me enough idea about the design process in different teams which proved useful while making design decisions.

Iterate designs
Quickly iterate designs to gather as much feedback as possible rather than waiting for the right moment. This gives enough time to refine designs before collaborating with developers.

Make the product useful, usable, desirable and engageable 
At Microsoft, I learned to focus on 4 principles while designing a product such that it creates a long-lasting impact on users and encourages them to use the product continuously

Involve team members
I took the lead and encouraged developers and program manager to participate in User research stage thus considering various aspects during brainstorming and generating several solutions.