Salesforce Automation System

Going back to school has been a long trip involving job dissatisfaction, introspection, applications, selecting schools, and moving. I finally made it to the grad design program at Carnegie Mellon last year and was soon encouraged to find a summer internship.

I choose Adaptive Path because we share similar personalities. They started off in the web world and have since grown to take on work in various other markets. As a Web Designer transitioning to different areas of design and user experience, Adaptive Path seemed like a great fit.

Secondly, I wanted to work for a company that was doing interesting things with respected clients to gain more experience in presenting design concepts. They have an impressive clientele; I felt I would have good exposure.

So I found a sublet, packed my life into two large bags, and moved to San Francisco. It became quickly evident that at Adaptive Path, the word ‘intern’ doesn’t have the coffee-fetching stigma some internships might. As a ‘Summer Associate’ (preferred term), I was treated with as much respect and responsibility as any full time employee. This allowed me to settle in quickly and comfortably. Soon I was asked to work for a large client, generating ideas and turning them into designs, in this case-wireframes. From this, I drew two conclusions:

1) A whiteboard is a designer’s best friend. Adaptive Path is littered with giant whiteboards and I used them constantly. Prototyping in software will ensure that your designs are limited to your knowledge of that particular software. Whiteboards represent total freedom; you can sketch something quickly with zero constraints. When soliciting feedback, people will feel more comfortable criticizing something rough rather than something polished. They’ll assume you put less time into it (not always true) and be more open with feedback.

2) The strategies employed by my peers regarding the effective communication of design concepts were fascinating. When working on a project full-time, it became easy to forget that my involvement and understanding was usually greater than the client’s. A well-constructed five-minute review would do wonders for presenting new concepts. There were fewer repeat questions and we were able to move forward with the confidence that everyone was on the same page. As designers, we are supposed to empathize with our users to help create better products and services. It’s equally important to remember to do the same for our clients. While it is tempting to see the product we create for our client and for our users as the same thing, they are very different and we need to design accordingly.

While I learned and saw a lot, ten weeks wasn’t enough to do everything I wanted to, yet still plenty of time to make mistakes. I tried hard to speak with everyone in the company, but being shy didn’t help. Next time I’ll bring a puppy and cheat. I know for a fact that I missed some fascinating conversations and with an opportunity as rare as this, there’s no time to be shy.

If going to design school is the journey, then working for Adaptive Path has been the ten-week detour I took to an amusement park. A place where the arcade has one game called Rock Band, the wait time is less than 5 minutes per rollercoaster, and everyone standing next to you in line has something amazing to say about the ride you’re about to get on. You’ll never get to do it all, but at least you’ll leave with a huge grin.