Intuit

I spent seven and a half months at Intuit, and I appreciated every moment of my time there. Prior to the co-op, I had limited professional experience with UX design, wireframing and prototyping, working in sprints, and collaborating with other designers. I left with not only seven months of experience with these skills but also amazing memories of a fantastic company and a beautiful West Coast city.

Main Responsibilities

My main project at Intuit involved working on the TurboTax Live Community website, which we were creating for our tax experts to use to connect and communicate with one another. Since my mentor was already handling a lot of his own projects, I was the only designer on my team that could work on the website. Because of this, I was able to take full ownership of everything I did - which was both exciting and extremely nerve-wracking. Like I said, I had limited exposure to the work I was being asked to do. Luckily, my team fostered such a welcome and open environment and always checked in on me to make sure the work I had was manageable.

I am beyond grateful for the faith that my manager, Christine, had in me to give me such significant responsibilities, and for my team for always supporting me. Without their efforts, I would not have gotten so far and created so much in my short time there.

Working Directly with Users

The part of my job that I absolutely loved - and that made me most excited to come into the office - were the days I spent talking directly to our target users. Every week I spent with them, I built more of an attachment to the project. The more I got to know who I was working for and listen to their issues and concerns, the more I felt responsible for their satisfaction. I was someone who could provide them either an amazing, intuitive, and delightful experience - or something entirely different.

Something I'm also grateful for about my team was how adept they were at user interviews and evoking insightful answers from users. I gained so much exposure to efficient interviewing techniques and how to really get to the root of a consumer's issue.

Challenges and Constraints

Something that happens in a professional workplace that you don't get exposure to in a design class at a university (or at least that I didn't get at mine) are the limits of the business or the company. We had a product that we wanted to build eventually but that we couldn't necessarily get to right away. We had to compromise with our contractors for a "do-able" solution "for now" - meaning that I had to prioritize some aspects of the user experience over others. This was an interesting challenge and gave me exposure to some of the decisions that designers and developers have to work together to make - and ultimately proved useful to me as a developer during my next co-op.

Reaching Out to the Community

Beyond the work I did there, I was able to become part of the community at Intuit. I got to meet employees outside of my own team and network with other designers who worked in different offices. I travelled to other company locations and networked with interns in the Mountain View office. The amount of opportunities I had for further learning and involvement were incredible and I took advantage of every moment. It's a bit too much to put on a webpage, but you can catch a glimpse below!

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Co-op Reflection Video

For my co-op reflection, I created a video that you can watch below or on YouTube here! Beneath the video is an adapted script if you prefer to read through it.

Introductions

Hello! I’m Anisa and I just finished a seven and a half month co-op as an experience designer at Intuit in San Diego, California. I completed and learned so much during my time there and I’m hoping to summarize my experience in the next few minutes. Let’s get started!

Summary

So, just to give y’all some background, I just finished my third year at Northeastern University in Boston. My first co-op was as a design coordinator at Nokia Technologies in Cambridge. At Intuit, I worked within the Consumer Group as part of the Live Domain Expert Engagement Team. I reported directly to the amazing Christine Morrison alongside Christine Vorac, Iva Coll, Nick Testone, and Angel Roy.

Job Overview

What I did at Intuit
At Intuit, my responsibility was to design and help launch an interactive, multi-platform online community focused on tax professionals based on customer insights and business requirements.

The on-boarding experience
In terms of training, I had help from a Senior Product Designer, Juan Hernandez, who introduced me to the role, company, brand, and pace of everything. My manager, Christine, was essential to on-boarding me and getting me accustomed to the culture at Intuit. She showed me what I needed to get around the company, get comfortable talking to coworkers, and present myself to company leaders. She had been a wonderful manager since the beginning of my time there and continued to regularly check in with me and make sure that I was getting the learning experience that I had come to Intuit for.

Company culture and team dynamic
Intuit has an awesome company culture. The workplace is diverse, inviting, accepting. I attended leadership roundtables and panels, I raced in the San Diego Dragon Boat Festival as part of Intuit’s team, I worked with Intuit developers for a small “personal” project as part of a company-wide event we call Global Engineering Days... there’s so much more to the company than the work experience and I was constantly surprised and excited by what Intuit has to offer.

My team dynamic was similar in that we all came from such different backgrounds. None of us had the exact same skill set and we each brought so much to the table. Because of that, I was exposed to data analytics, cross-platform and external communications, content designing, and project management on a weekly to daily basis.

Skills needed to excel at this job
The hard skills are straightforward. It helped that I had experience with wireframing and prototyping and I needed to be comfortable with designing in sprints and occasionally working at a very fast pace. For me, the soft skills were more important than anything else. I had to have empathy. At Intuit, the work is driven by the customers, so being able to listen to someone and really understand their problem is one of the most valuable skills you can have.

Attributes of a successful employee at this company
Get involved. Talk to people. I joined so many communities just to gain exposure to new people and skills. Growth and prosperity are highly valued at Intuit and to be successful, you need to make these opportunities appear for yourself and take full advantage of them.

Skills developed during the co-op experience
I think the biggest skill that I developed at this co-op was the ability to step outside of my comfort zone. It was important for me to try new things, both being on a completely different coast and being in such a big company. I also got more comfortable with turning my thoughts and ideas into words. At Intuit, people were always sharing their work and giving feedback to one another.

Advice for future applicants
Apply. Just… believe in yourself. Know what you are capable of and can bring to the company. Talk to past co-ops, such as myself. Reach out to a handful of people. Ask questions. Learn about the company and your prospective role.

Personal Development

Professional growth
In addition to going outside of my comfort zone, and getting better at presenting myself, I have a much richer portfolio and better understanding of my own work ethic.

Intuit’s impact on my career goals
Working at Intuit was a unique and completely rewarding experience. Thanks to my manager, I had many opportunities to meet other designers-- product designers, visual designers, experience designers like myself, and design technologists. Meeting them gave me a better idea of design in the workplace and as a full-time career. I understand more of what I’m looking for in terms of company culture and post-grad employment. I still don’t fully know what I want to do with my life yet, but the past seven and a half months have definitely given me a much better idea.

Reflection

The eight months I spent in San Diego are unforgettable. I met so many amazing people, tried so many new activities, and saw so many beautiful sights. I owe so much to my time spent working at Intuit and could spend hours talking about all the ways I tried to live my life to the fullest while I was there. Even if I never go back, San Diego will always hold a special place in my heart.