While tech is one of the hottest career pathways, most major tech companies require applicants to have at least a 4-year degree in a relevant discipline to be considered, let alone deemed as competitive. However, there exist socio-economic barriers to breaking into tech, such as the high cost of tuition and switching careers.

Smash is an early-stage Seattle-based startup with the mission of helping underrepresented learners with nontraditional educational backgrounds acquire in-demand tech skills, thereby bridging the diversity gap in tech. 

Smash addresses this problem by partnering with educators (i.e., professors) and tech companies to provide learners with the opportunity to view educational content and gain real-world experience by participating in company-sponsored projects. As a result, learners gain hands-on skills and career development opportunities while companies gain access to a large, diverse, talent pipeline. 

Here are my key takeaways:

• Learners are expected to complete their Smash journey and be ready to apply their skills for employment after a 12-month timeline. 

• Static pages must be simple and have engaging content (e.g., testimonials, dynamic content) to get learners to register.

• To maximize retention, learners should be able to take engaging actions immediately after logging in.

• Companies enter the funnel by inputting their email and getting in touch with Smash.

Implementing user/stakeholder feedback and journey/site mapping insights, I designed a new website for Smash to efficiently get users into their respective funnels. The redesigned website offers an intuitive experience that helps users remain engaged on their journey to break into the tech industry. 

To maintain consistency across 30+ pages, I implemented a comprehensive design system including the following elements: 

• Foundations: colors, typography, grids, icons, logo, border-radius

• Components: buttons, checkmarks, text fields, dropdowns, cards, navigation

• Assets: sponsor logos, imagery, illustrations, data visualizations

I chose shades of blue as our primary and secondary colors since tech companies commonly use it to represent cutting-edge technology, intelligence, and trust. For the logo, we decided on minimalistic type lettering to not be distracting. While completing the design system, I wrote documentation explaining how to use the elements.

What I learned from my first-ever internship experience

Working with Smash was an incredibly unique journey, which came with its share of ups and downs, but I am grateful for the chance to get my foot in the door of UX/UI design. Reflecting on the past year, I went from knowing little about design to having a full-fledged portfolio and landing my first internship. I have truly come a long way, especially in growing my confidence as a designer by working with other passionate team members and learning from their unique skills.

1. Dealing with ambiguity

   • Working with an early-stage startup is full of ambiguity. There was no clear direction and guidance, which meant a lot of back-and-forth iteration. I learned to not be afraid to ask questions and clarify any areas of confusion. As a result, I became more confident with my work and took ownership of the design space. 

2. Learning to work with stakeholders

   • Closely communicating with stakeholders is crucial. I led meetings with the Chief Marketing Officer twice a week to present our progress, gather feedback, and learn about the company’s needs. Iterating based on feedback taught me to be flexible. I learned how to be an empathetic listener while also voicing my opinions and compromising with stakeholders.

3. Ownership and growth mindset

   • Take responsibility for the outcome and focus on improvement. I came into the internship hoping to learn and the challenges I faced during my internship (e.g. design rejections) helped me to grow. I traded my effort for a valuable experience.

4. Be proud of your work!

   • At the end of the day, be proud of the work YOU accomplished. There is always room for improvement. Since I joined Smash, I learned how to design a website, develop my own design system, and practice industry standards such as utilizing auto layout, grids, rulers, components, and more.

Designing Smash’s website was not a smooth process, and there were moments when I felt discouraged. Overall, it was an insightful experience and I am happy with the end product. I am excited to see how this company will expand in the future, and I am glad to say I was part of the original development team.

If I stayed on Smash, I would flesh out the stakeholder’s vision for the out-of-scope pages, such as the user flow for educators and companies.

Thanks for stopping by, feel free to explore my other projects! 🙋🏻‍♂️