This was my first contracting role, exposing me to cross-functional teamwork and the emerging field of generative artificial intelligence, a topic I was eager to explore.

I learned that designing with generative artificial intelligence involves understanding the technical system before starting any design work. This approach helped me align my design approach with the system's capabilities and limitations.

I gained hands-on experience with conducting user research. Some highlights of this experience included crafting test scripts, analyzing interviews, and synthesizing interviews. I learned how to discern valuable feedback, prioritize findings, and transform interview findings into actionable changes, utilizing supporting clips from testers to strengthen my design changes and recommendations. 

A challenge I faced was finding the right balance between automation and personalization. It was important to give users the ability to gain ownership over their work, while taking advantage of the abilities of AI. To address this, I added customizing features to tailor each cover letter to individual experiences.

I learned how to highlight my product-thinking skills and defend my design decisions to Product leads and Developers. Tthese meetings helped me refine my ability to articulate design rationale and advocate for user needs within a cross-functional team.

I learned to present my work frequently, and receive continuous feedback, through presenting my progress on this project within a company-wide UX working group meeting, which was created to bring UX teams together across the various subsidiaries at Everyday Health Group. A screenshot of my presentation is shown below!