3 Things I Learned from my time at AT&T

The Experience Design Studio has around 60 full time designers and contractors between their LA and NY offices. Being around such a diverse and experienced group of professionals everyday was an immense learning experience and there are certainly things I took away with me. They are things that I think apply to any work environment, no matter how big or small the team.  

Here is a summary of three lessons I learned from my internship.

1. Communication sets apart the good from the great designers.

I'd like to think that work speaks for itself but often times you need to speak for your work. Crafting a cohesive story when it comes to creating your own deck plays a big role in framing the context of your design. When proposing  prototype, or presenting research findings, it's important to know your audience and provide appropriate rationale in order to get your POV across. For example, if you know your audience, you can predict the types of questions they might ask. Keeping that in mind, you can create a more cohesive presentation, addressing the needs of different potential stakeholders. 

2. A supportive team is invaluable.

There were times while working on the remote app that were overwhelming. Sometimes research findings seemed to contradict themselves, and the scope would change multiple times throughout the process. Having a manager or colleague there to answer any questions and work with you made the difference between a crisis and a mild hurdle. Especially when we were under deadlines. Having people that understood my dilemmas allowed me to address the problem in a more relaxed, creative mind frame. They emphasized when presenting your work that there are no right or wrong answers- we iterative on them together. 

3. Empathy is key in testing sessions.

Taking the time to know someone's background, especially what TV services they use, their habits and lifestyle are all important to understand at the beginning of a user testing session. While yes there are cold hard heuristics we need to abide by when testing, having that empathy for the user helps to create a holistic representation of the session. Why were they confused about a certain aspect of a feature? Do they have an inherit bias from their everyday routines? Are they used to using certain apps/devices than others? Keeping this subjectivity in mind was important in creating a more objective view of individual testing sessions.