FORM Swim
product design internship
01
At a Glance
In the Fall of 2022, I received an opportunity to work for an emerging sport-tech company, FORM Smart Goggles. As part of their Digital Product team, my projects focused on enhancing the experience on their mobile app, Apple Watch integration, and the Goggle’s digital interface. Working on various projects enabled me to collaborate and learn from product managers, developers, data analysts, swim coaches, mechanical engineers and our end-users!
interfaces
AR goggles, iPhone, Android,
Apple watch
Timeline
4 months
tools
Figma, Adobe Suite, JIRA
Total metres swam
8,500 metres
02
Overview
Throughout the 4-months, I was privileged to be part of a team of 3 senior designers who encouraged me to work alongside them on different projects, and offered guidance as I spearheaded my own design deliverables. On a macro level, I was doing user research, crafting user stories and flows, designing Hi-Fi interfaces and interactions, conducting usability testing, and collaborating with cross-functional teams of PMs, developers, and QA engineers. I was able to complete 2 user research projects, deliver 3 micro features, and help design and test 2 major features. While I can’t disclose the details of the projects due to the NDA, I’ve listed a brief summary of the projects I’ve worked on - feel free to connect with me to learn more!
New features delivered
User achievements
Last swum indicator
Swimming plan start date
UX research
Membership engagement
Amazon.ca purchasing flow
UX/UI design
Home tab 2.0
Plans tab 2.0
03
Key Takeaways.
The 15 weeks went by in a blink of an eye, and I wasn’t able to fully appreciate my tenure until I had a chance to reflect on it. I was fortunate to work alongside 12 other interns - who I now call friends of mine, learned more about design and product lifecycle in 4 months then I did in 2 years of school, and rekindle my interest for swimming and endurance training.
The Design Process involves more than just the end-user
In an academic context, my primary focus has consistently been advocating for the user while sometimes overlooking the practical development constraints. However, as I began working on collaborative projects within cross-functional teams, I started understanding the importance of factoring in engineering capacity, aligning with product strategy and roadmaps, and ensuring that my designs were grounded in analytical insights. Nonetheless, throughout the 15 weeks I actively engaged in numerous conversations and open dialogue with our users, which empowered me to become more of an empathetic and open-minded designer.
Delivering feedback and digesting input
One of my objectives for 2022 was to enhance my listening skills. Rather than offering my divided attention where I partially focused on the speaker, while simultaneously preparing my own responses, I practiced directing my complete focus and energy toward the speaker. That quickly became a challenging endeavour, especially during feedback sessions when I had to process complex terminology and piece together information on the fly.
Over time, I did make progress in absorbing information more swiftly. Yet, the core issue was not the speed of comprehension but rather my level of engagement with the speaker. I came to the realization that feedback doesn't always require an immediate response; instead, quality feedback starts with purposeful listening and thought processing.
Practice makes Progress
My learning experience from fellow designers and my daily use of Figma have significantly enhanced my design process, making it notably more efficient. Following my immersion and involvement in FORM's extensive design system and acquiring proficiency in effectively handling components and variants, as well as drawing inspiration from the work of others, I found that I could optimize designing interfaces and screens. This enabled me to allocate more time towards lateral ideation, user research, and the meticulous preparation of design hand-offs to our engineering teams.
