INTERN PERSPECTIVE
7 Takeaways from My Internship at AppDynamics
“The 10 weeks of my virtual internship period passed so swiftly during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also gave me a remarkable experience and a lot of memories to cherish.”
I heard about AppDynamics (or AppD in short) for the first time in September 2019, when their design team came to our University (IIT Guwahati) for a placement presentation. After completing a design task and two rounds of online interviews, I was selected along with my classmate as a summer intern at AppD.
The (Virtual) Onboarding
I was very excited after getting into AppDynamics, but we (my classmate and I) had never imagined my internship would be virtual. In fact, I wasn’t even expecting the internship to happen due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I was disappointed imagining that I might miss out on some crucial experiences and learning.
However, all my anxieties were wiped off in the very first week of joining AppD. Thanks to my manager and my mentor, that even on Day Zero, I knew about AppDynamics enough to start with, which helped me gain confidence in the work. Yes, there was a smooth knowledge transfer even before the internship. Onboarding went smoothly at all stages- HR, IT, and the UX team. To my surprise, the UX team had composed a welcome video for us. We also had an online Pictionary session. What a great way to make us feel at home!
Work-Fun Balance
Let’s start by knowing what AppDynamics does.
As Earl Diem (Sr. Manager of Performance Engineering, PSCU) describes, “Putting AppDynamics in is like walking into a room and turning the lights on. You can see everything.”
In today’s world, all the businesses are shifting to online platforms to provide solutions relying on software and infrastructure. Let’s understand this with an analogy. A human body (business organization) is a complex network of organs (software, infrastructure, cloud information, data, etc.). Any issue in any organ hinders the proper functioning of the body. AppDynamics is like a doctor who diagnoses the problem and helps determine the exact location of the problem.
My work focused mainly around the reimagined Application Performance Monitoring (APM), bringing AppD a step closer to realizing its vision of being the central nervous system for their customers. Understanding this project was a challenge as this project is still in an early stage.
“My fear of working remotely intensified. What if I am not able to understand this?”
Thanks to the team’s excellent communication, I was able to grasp these concepts quickly. All the work in progress and meeting recordings are documented in Confluence. People atAppD are very welcoming and always ready to cooperate. They were always there to help me out in any doubt. My mentor stayed beyond office hours to help me several times. :’)
A significant chunk of my internship period went into researching, which included understanding Reimagine, the specific area of my project, understanding the customers’ requirements, and so on. This was followed by the design stage, which included several iterations. The overall process of understanding the users’ pain points and finding a solution wasn’t linear; there were overlapping phases and constant to and fro, especially in the research and design phase. Every new research finding resulted in modifications in design and implementing those modifications required further research.
“Design is not art. The design has to function.”
What could be a better way than getting the design tested with the actual customers of AppD? The next phase of the internship was primarily focused on user testing. This session was insightful, mainly because I got to know what the customers thought of the design. Based on the insights, I charted out a further roadmap for the project.
Well, that was about work. Now let’s talk about fun. Woohoo! Did I mention the welcome lunch yet? What a caring gesture! That’s not all; the fun never stops at AppD. Bangalore office has a dedicated slack channel for this. During my tenure, I came across various fun challenges like The Mocktail Punch, Fun With Meme, and Hocus Pocus. We also had Tuesday trivia — a fun quiz for the Product and Engineering team. The company takes care of the employees and their families by holding fitness sessions and even a virtual circus for parents with kids at home. And lots of gifts! :D
My Takeaways
1. Everyone is a pool of knowledge
Throughout the internship, I was surrounded by brilliant minds around me. Everyone here, in a business-to-business company, is an expert in their domain. There is a tremendous amount of knowledge shared every moment. You might not realize where that advice might work. When you are actually designing, an advice someone shared weeks ago mysteriously adds to it. Let’s take an example of Biryani, (because why not?) where every spice might not be significant in isolation. But collectively, they bring out the most wonderful flavour.
2. Communication is the key
As a remote worker, it is imperative to maintain adequate communication with the team. The UX team in AppDynamics is located in two different zones — San Francisco and Bangalore. Despite the pandemic and varying time-zones, we collaborated and communicated asynchronously using various tools like Webex, Slack, Mural, Confluence, etc. I had regular weekly sync ups with the mentor, the UX team in Bangalore, Alerting: Design and Research team. Apart from these, we also had design share outs, sync up with the Particle (design system) team, and various others.
Additionally, we also had private meetings based on multiple agendas. My FOMO of an office workspace disappeared when I realized how the entire globe was my office. I was free yet connected.
3. Flexible to change
Humans are biased, and sadly, we are not always able to filter our deeply ingrained biases. As designers, we are often biased towards some features or elements. It thus becomes essential to explore and challenge our preferences in a productive way to deliver better outcomes. As designers, we ought to craft to customer’s thoughts. We should have shared values within the team and, ultimately, across the industry to promote our collective responsibility to deliver the most significant benefit. Personally, during the internship, my design came a long way ahead of the first paper prototype, and I’m sure there’s a long way to go until implementation, which takes me to the next takeaway.
4. Design is a process
During the pre-internship period, when I came across the AppDynamics University and took courses to learn how AppDynamics works, I was amazed. The system looks so intelligent and perfect. I could not guess what project I would work on then. This perception soon changed as I started diving deep into the project.
Nothing is perfect. There is no end product.
Even the current product had scope for improvisation and I had to design for it. Wow! My design came a long way now from the initial sketch. I now understand that my contribution to design will outdate someday too, and I do acknowledge this. Design is a process, and things keep updating.
5. Be self-motivated
As an intern, I had anticipated that I will be micro monitored at every stage. Surprisingly, I was wrong. Wow! When HR mentioned that we (interns) are the company’s employees for the next 10 weeks, I realized what he meant. My team encouraged me to take ownership of the work, which reminds me of Benjamin Franklin’s quote,
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn”.
Having access to the enormous library of information, I had the opportunity to choose the design process and timeline. As mentioned about the people and the inviting culture, they were always there to guide in any case of confusion.
6. When nothing goes right, take a break
Taking responsibility for the project is exciting and helps in gaining lots of experience. They said, “With great power comes great responsibility.” What they didn’t say was, “With great responsibility, comes work breaks”. In times when we feel unproductive at work, take a break to gain perspective, suggests Forbes. Research says that we need to step away and not continually work. It helps in resetting the brain and thinking with a fresh perspective. I used to divide my working hours into small achievable goals and treat myself after accomplishing those. Breaks at home are different than those at the office (perks of WFH). I spent my breaks playing with my 1-year-old nephew. That’s unique for me, but everyone can have different ways to take a break.
7. Work from home has its own perks
I have already mentioned breaks at home. But you get other perks also like homemade food. Yes, what else would I want after work! Thanks to my sister, who keeps experimenting with food. Have a glimpse.
Another one? Flexibility! Although I had set up a workstation at a corner of my room, yet working from home means flexibility. Don’t you agree? Kitchen counter, dining table, couch, terrace. You name it! The most comfortable workstation to date remains my bed. Changing your workspace is also a kind of break during work.
Bidding Adieu
Soon it was our farewell. There was food, games, and lots of fun conversations. I couldn’t have imagined a better end to the internship. It was a bittersweet moment for all of us.
Overall it was a great experience interning with AppDynamics. Although the internship was for ten weeks, the takeaways are for life.
I look forward to the day when the design I worked on is a part of the AppD product. I believe that AppDynamics is a great company to work where every employee is dedicated and involved in their work with full enthusiasm and dedication. I will cherish my time spent here. There’s something new to learn at AppDynamics every day. And as da Vinci said,
“Learning never exhausts the mind.”
