Uber Eats Product Design Internship
How Might We Help Couriers optimally experience
Uber Eats platform to achieve their desired goals
Type Team/Individual Project
Role Product Designer
Tools Figma, Principle
Timespan Summer 2019 | 12 weeks
My unforgettable summer at Uber
Over the summer 2019, I interned as a product designer at Uber, as part of the Uber Eats team. While completing several projects, I was mainly reponsible for proposing design solutions to tackle courier pricing comprehension problems.
In the process, I closely worked with a team of UX researchers, writers, designers, PMs, and engineers and received constant feedback. It was such a wonderful opportunities for me to work, learn, and grow with one of the smartest people in the industry.
Due to NDA, I am not able to share detailed project materials until the product launches publicly. If you would like to learn more about my experience, please feel free to reach out to me.
Also, I've already published a write-up about my learnings at Uber on Medium. Enjoy! :)
5 key takeaways from my product design internship at Uber by April Shin
Key Learnings
1. Know who your core users are
I am someone who always pays a lot of attention in making things look cool. The majority of my designs have always been
based on a mockup of the most recent iPhone; I thought that was the best way to present my design. However, I was wrong.
What’s more important is trying to have a complete understanding of my core users. Place the priority on knowing who your users are before you focus on the aesthetics of the design.
2. Be an expert on your product
Even though it was only a three-month internship, people started to come find me to ask questions regarding my product,
which made me think: “I must keep working hard to be an expert on my product once I own it. By doing this, whenever I am
asked questions, I can be confident in my knowledge and be able to provide more valuable answers to my team.”
3. Be a great communicator
As a designer, I must 1) listen carefully to what different stakeholders say, 2) incorporate the ideas and thoughts
across the teams, and 3) draw a line for what should be prioritized for the core users in my design solution. In this
regard, I tried to have every decision that I made be fully supported through sufficient communication between the
stakeholders, the team, and myself.
4. Be a strategic thinker
International companies like Uber have countless business factors to consider, and design is not an exception. While I
am designing, I’ve tried my very best to leverage my knowledge and previous professional experiences as an analyst and
consultant — I found that these experiences were very helpful.
I found that it is critical to not only present the design itself, but also clearly demonstrate why my design matters to
the business and how it can play a strategic role within it.
5. Always be inspired
During my internship, I met numerous people who inspired me not only as a designer but also as a person. Some inspiring
advice I received were:
a. Find a product that you wish to spend the rest of your life on and find some great people to build it with you;
b. Build your UX career by strategically positioning yourself;
c. Do not join the company if you do not find a passionate manager/team who is truly excited to grow you;
d. Start designing with small changes. No matter what, they ARE making changes
Pre-internship Project
After accepting my internship offer from Uber Eats and talking with my team, I was thinking:
"Wouldn't be great if I could initiate the project with the Eats product that I will be working on?"
So, I asked my team the core problem statement that the team is working on, and initiated a short-term project. My team loved it and I also loved that I could better understand the product, problem space, and design components of my team in advance, so I could work more efficiently when working on the actual projects.
Click here to View my Pre-internship Project!
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