As a DesignOps intern at PicCollage, I got the chance to participate in a tons of different projects, some of them are cross-functional and most of them are visual design projects. Including marketing material design, app store screenshot design, content creation and curation.
The internship was definitely the most memorable career enrichment experience for me before entering into the industry as a student. I learned a lot of valuable and practical skills from everyone on the team.
Work closely with the team and involve them in the design process:
At first, I thought getting the project done is top priority, while I neglected the importance of frequently communicating with stakeholders and peers to make sure my work is aligning with the goals we have.
Learning to navigate through feedback:
Although understanding everyone's perspectives is essential to move forward but opinions can be conflicting sometimes, I learned to make more informed decision about my design with stronger rationales.
Receiving & giving feedback:
Constantly sharing design and asking questions is crucial for collaboration and can make sure my work is reflecting the project goals. Through weekly design critique, I also learned how to give constructive feedback.
Storytelling & public speaking:
I learned to speak about my work as a process rather than a series of activities to show my design thinking . I was sometimes insecure and lack confident of my work; however, I learned the importance of crafting an intriguing story, and include research and reasoning of a certain decision when presenting.
Experiment with different textures, patterns and ways of creating content had really been the highlight of my journey!
I was also in charge of App Store screenshot designs. We have to change our screenshot designs approximately 5 times a year (Spring, Summer, Fall, Halloween, Christmas). The design goal is to showcase new releases and new content.
A part of my weekly routine is to create marketing materials to showcase our new contents.
Sometimes I also get the chance to design ads for our new products. Usually I would create different variations for a design and the stakeholders could see which one works the best.
For a better onboarding process, I created a set of templates that teaches users about features on the app. Users can interact with these templates and get a better understanding about how to navigate through PicCollage.
