IBM Accelerate
Role
Design Fellow
Timeline
8 weeks
(Summer 2023)
Team
1 Chief Architect
& 2 Product Designers
Tools
Figma
Carbon Design System
“Good Design is Good Business”
My projects at IBM are currently in development. If you'd like to know more about my fellowship experience or the project I worked on, feel free to schedule a call with me!
Overview
Top 5% of over 10,000 applicants
During the summer of 2023 I placed in the top 5% of over 10,000 applicants to participate in an 8-week design training and mentorship program - IBM Accelerate - that covered design on an intermediate scale from industry professionals with over 10+ years of experience and mentors.
While being on a study term that summer I could not do an internship and so I wanted to brush up my skills and this program ended up being the perfect opportunity.
My Role
Product Designer - ManageIQ project (IBM Open Source Community) & IBM Accelerate Fellow
Responsibilities
Design challenges, weekly meetings, and open-source contribution
From starting the program to the very end, everyone was so kind - especially the IBM employees running the program. They pushed for all fellows' personal growth. My responsibilities for the program were attending weekly meetings hosted by professionals at IBM on a specific topic on design, completing design challenges and tasks, and at the end presenting a term-end design report to managers and directors including learnings with IBM Design principles, design methodologies, accessibility guidelines, wireframing, prototyping and more.
While my responsibilities with the ManageIQ team were to help facilitate weekly design scrum meetings, document any UX bugs, find ways to improve the current system's outdated design, and address any bugs.
Highlights
Key learnings from the program
Designing for Enterprise Scale
Working on the ManageIQ open-source project taught me how to design for large-scale, complex systems. The focus was on building user-friendly solutions that could scale seamlessly across diverse user needs in an enterprise environment.
Collaboration with IT / Chief Architect Professionals
This program gave me my first chance to work closely with a Chief Architect, rather than just developers and PMs. This shift helped me understand how architecture impacts design decisions, and how to align design with long-term technical strategies.
Leveraging the IBM Design System
I quickly learned to leverage the IBM Design System, integrating its pre-designed components to ensure consistency while customizing them for specific project needs. This experience reinforced the importance of systemized design in creating cohesive user experiences.
Navigating Outdated Systems
One of the biggest challenges I faced was working with outdated systems. Integrating modern design principles into legacy platforms required creative problem-solving and an understanding of technical debt. I learned the importance of balancing the need for innovation with the constraints of existing systems, ensuring that designs were both feasible and forward-thinking.
Leveraging Your Resources
Putting yourself out there and staying curious is so important. That's how I learned about the program in the first place. It also led me to volunteering for the IBM open-source community which turned out to be an invaluable experience.
Overall
A wonderful summer experience
This summer was an incredible learning journey, where I had the privilege of working alongside industry professionals, particularly a UX expert with over 10 years of experience at IBM. Their guidance and insights were invaluable in shaping my understanding of user experience design. IBM, a pioneer in human-computer interaction, design, and technology, provided me with a unique opportunity to deepen my knowledge in a company that has played a significant role in shaping the design landscape. It was truly inspiring to learn from both the leaders and the history that has made IBM a key player in the design and tech world.