Summer 2024
84.51° is the retail data science, insights, and media subsidiary of the Kroger Company. Covered by NDA.
During my time as the first-ever Experience Design (XD) intern at 84.51°'s Chicago office, I was able to craft my workload to projects I was most interested in.
I supported the analysis of a satisfaction survey for the Kroger Ad Platform (KAP), a recently launched product needing significant improvement. I also joined a cross-functional team to contribute the design perspective to major feature upgrades.
Given my recent UX education, I was also empowered to lead my own usability audit of KAP, enlisting the help of two designers to review the system with me. We identified more than 120 issues, which I compiled and presented recommendations on how to address them.
I'm highlighting these experiences due to the transformative effect they've had on my perception of UX design in the workplace as part of my first and only corporate internship at a major company. These projects showcase my ability to take initiative, question the status quo, and work collaboratively as a designer. Check out the projects I worked on!
Featured Projects
Satisfaction Survey
I took initiative immediately after I started to review our team's satisfaction survey and make suggestions for tweaks right before it was sent out. After the results came in, I read through the long-form responses and identified major themes, which I then matched to the themes we found in my usability audit. I used these matchings in my final presentation to tie together all of my projects.
See below: the cover of my final presentation, mocked up like a website using the design system.
Major Feature Upgrades
I was able to join a cross-functional team in order to develop my design skills as well as my knowledge of the Agile framework. Through this team, I worked with fellow designers on a major feature redesign. We outlined a user flow, did competitive analysis, and mocked up interactive prototypes. I also led testing sessions of these prototypes with key stakeholders, gathering valuable feedback to promote iteration!
See below: phases of iterative design on the the project; discovery, competitive analysis, user flows, stakeholder showcases, design review sessions, "now, next, later" progression (image is heavily redacted).
Usability Audit
As a "side quest," I led a group of designers in a usability audit of KAP. I wrote up task descriptions to guide the auditors in comprehensively exploring the platform, as well as a spreadsheet to collect results. I led our team meetings in briefing the project, reviewing the results, and compiling recommendations. I then presented to the XD function area as well as in my final intern presentation.
See below: a before-and-after assessment of relevant UX skills, showing my growth across the course of the internship.
Reflection
I made significant contributions, both design and conceptual, to the redesign of a major feature of KAP.
My usability audit generated several key themes of improvements to be made, specifically with visibility of system status and error prevention, which were referred to the team for action after my internship.
I also demonstrated the benefit and impact of experience design during my final presentation and to my fellow interns, most of whom were not familiar with XD.
Check out my final presentation here.
