Working with Upstox — UX design internship.
October 2022
I'm a final year student pursuing a Bachelor of Design course at IIT Guwahati. After my third year, during the summer (of 2022), I interned with Upstox(remotely) as a User Experience Designer.
This article is about how my three months were — sharing my approaches, experiences, and learnings.
How I reached there…
I was in my third year and was looking forward to opportunities for my coming summers. I applied to Upstox via LinkedIn (March 2022), heard back from the team within a week, and the first round of interviews was scheduled for the very next day.
Three rounds of interviews were conducted, including an HR round, and finally, within two weeks, I had the offer letter in my hand! 🌫🙅🏻♂️
P.S. The interview process was very smooth, and well communicated, but still, I was filled with excitement, anxiousness and curiosity, until I had the offer letter with me.
The process is subjective, dynamic and might alter in the future.
Internship Experience
My first week was pretty chill, and of getting used to the vibe. The first few days were about catching up with all the design team members to know what everyone was working on, along with a few small studies and tasks to get the flow slowly.
How's the work? (Projects/Tasks)
The team culture at Upstox is agile. Projects are handled and managed over market dynamics, width and priority.
Many companies (e.g., Microsoft, Samsung, etc.) hire interns through their summer programs and have a pre-ideated project; interns work particularly on them under a mentor.
However, at Upstox, interns work along as the FTEs; handle the PRDs when allocated by the Design/Product Managers, and directly report to them. These tasks included level-to-level hierarchies, few can take just a day or two to wrap, and others can go on for months. Thus, I got an opportunity to work on multiple projects and leads over the span of 12 weeks.
Fintechs (Markets and Funds)
Fintechs are ambiguous state of affairs amid a digital revolution
among banking and investment sectors as they attempt to catch up to other.
Before joining in, I had barely used any such platform. I though knew the basic concepts (thanks to my curiosity); however, when you design for such platforms, you unknowingly understand so many of the core concepts. For me, it was nothing less than a fun art to know as much as I did just in three months.
Yes, those complex graphs and confusing data are actually very simple and fun to explore, even if you are not an investor. Patience and interest are the way.
An opportunity like no other 🙅🏻♂️
Upstox caters to a real wide range of users, from those who just started out to those who are pro traders and more, and I was fortunate enough to work and design for both these extremes, along with other high-priority tasks and some quick fixes.
In my tenure, I worked on two of the major projects. One was to design FTUE (first-time user experience) in mutual fund’s section and the other was to solve for Developer Consoles and API Tradings for startups and pro-traders.
The Imposter Syndrome.
Though I had a really great and well-crafted experience, my initial days went with a bit of friction.
1. I was new to Figma.
2. never used a proper DS before.
3. knew nill/minimum of stocks and funds.
4. never worked with industry research operandi.
However, few days, and everything was smooooth. We had bi-weekly design team meet-ups where every designer updated the team with what they were working on, and everyone followed with the discussions. These meetings and talks edged my participation and awareness.
✅ Key takeaways.
- Things take time.
It takes time to get used to the new environment and people, and it has nothing to do with your skills and approach. A few moments and you will get a flow more than anybody else. Moreover, if you are blank for a project, get a coffee or biryani and start again afresh; you will do wonders then. Productivity can't be forced but enjoyed. - Stay updated and Keep updated.
It is important to be aware of the goals, roadmaps, and deadlines of the projects you are working on, and also what's going on with the team and organization in general. Knowing the decisions, be it in design terms; or what is working for the company/users and what's not, will eventually help you to take better decisions.
Also, keep the team and leads updated of what you are working on. This will help them efficiently organize the timelines and might save you from the buffers of confusion. Design leads have much more to do than interns, and if you can make their lives a bit simpler with updates and timelines, they'll appreciate it. - Design is simple. Design is simplifying.
Signing up for Upstox, I was nervous about the domain and spectacle of what would come my way. However, working along, I realized that designing is not about the domain you are working in and neither about overcomplicating the scenarios. It's just that you see a problem, and you need to come up with the most subtle and simple solution as if you were the user.
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First Medium Article. 🧖🏻
Thanks a lot for reading till this point. My internship was for three months, and each day was productive. Learning is a destined path of the curve, but Upstox leveled me up. Special shoutout 📣 to the amazing team I worked with.
I will be posting more such content, journeys, and thoughts.
Do follow me if you have stayed till here. 😀
Also, feel free to reach out to me and say Hello! 🙌🏽
Looking forwad to some amazing conversations.
