WillowTree
A two month PRODUCT DESIGN INTERNSHIP
Client
Hyatt, Millenium Trust Company
Skills
UI/UX, Product design, Visual design, Figma
Role
Product Design Intern, WillowTree Boston
Timeline
9 Weeks, Summer 2023
What is WillowTree?
WillowTree, a digital product agency with offices spanning from Boston to Brazil, has produced over 700 native mobile applications, websites, and other digital products for clients like Dairy Queen, Regal, and HBO.
"I was impressed not only by the screens she designed, but by the questions she asked prior to even opening Figma. Her desire to better understand the business AND user needs shown through."
Greg Romano, Lead Hyatt Product Designer
My Impact
This was my first internship ever and my goal was to absorb as much information as I could. In addition to participating in weekly meetings with both my team and the client, I was given the opportunity to contribute real-time to big players like Hyatt and Millenium Trust.
My two months at WillowTree can be broken into three milestones.
Mastering the end-to-end product design process
Creating a case study for Hyatt Vacation Club
Developing screens for both Hyatt and Millenium Trust
(And of course, making priceless memories with my team along the way)
Documenting The Hyatt Vacation Club
Case Study
While iterating on Hyatt screens of my own, I also conducted a case study summarizing the progress made on the Hyatt project before I joined WillowTree.
I worked backwards in the product design process, reviewing past research studies, interviews, and benchmarking tests conducted during the earlier design phases to produce a comprehensive timeline of the Hyatt project.
Screens
I designed a responsive onboarding flow that introduced users to the new Hyatt Vacation platform.
A New Look for The Millenium Trust Company
I assisted in re-designing the Log in, Leadership, and Glossary screens for Millenium Trust Company's newly rebranded website.
Heuristic Analysis
To start, I conducted a heuristic analysis on the pre-existing Millenium Trust Company site according to Jacob's Ten Usability Heuristics to determine how best to go about the re-design.
Once I pinpointed pain points of the current website, I moved on to correcting those in the final screens.
What I Learned
I'm extremely grateful to have had this opportunity and have thoroughly enjoyed learning under the mentorship of so many experienced designers. My biggest takeaways are as follows:
Design is collaboration first.
To design is to inherently communicate and receive feedback from clients and team members, and then implementing it through multiple iterations.
Always iterate with the user at heart.
Prior to wire-framing or creating user flows, question if a feature is even necessary to the user.
Account for a North Star.
Even when given a specific design directive, design a broad range of options that could potentially optimize a user's experience, even if they go beyond the prompt– or, a North Star.
Designed with <3 by Olivia Wang