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My internship in summer :)
Long time no see~~~
It has been almost 10 weeks since I started my internship as a usability architect in Enterprise Rent-A-Car. I have learnt a lot from this internship and am really enjoy my time here.
The most valuable concept I learnt is that decision are never made within a meeting but outside the meeting. As a usability architect, I not only do design for the business, but also selling my idea to them. In the meeting, our presentation has to meet their need on the product while taking into consideration the actual need of the customer. However, people tend to question your idea when it is the first time they ever see it. Hence, it is important to have small talk with the key individuals in the team about your design and make sure that they support, or at least understand, your design before the formal meeting. This way, when you are presenting your design in your meeting, you know that several key individuals have learnt about your design and understand it, which helps smooth the discussion process.
It helps clarify my mind on what I would like to do in the future. I can now say firmly that I like doing HCI related jobs. And at least I know that I like doing design under some constraints. In companies that IT plays a main role, Google, MS, you just need to come up with genius ideas and no need to think about the business or if it is technically feasible, that is not part of your job. But in companies that IT is as support service, we need to consider both of these factors. Some people may feel limited by these constraints, but I find myself enjoy working within some boundary, which makes me clear about what direction I should be heading to.
One exciting news, I am offered to extend my internship here this fall! I will post my learning from my internship regularly. So keep checking:)
Posted by chanwei at September 25, 2007 11:33 AM
