Valuable Lessons From My UX Design Journey at MakeMyTrip.
Here’s what MakeMyTrip taught me about building products.
Illustrations created by me & style inspired by buttpoems (J.Smith)
Before MMT 🕰
After years of education and maintaining a comfy academic routine, I was itching to learn more about real-world work.
I wanted to push and immerse myself in a new culture and setting, and I was looking for a place to create a complete product. So, before starting out, I spoke to my coworkers’ seniors to ask them about their experience, plus a couple of other silly questions. It’s a must-do before you start working in a new environment.
Being an intern isn’t just an easy job. After all, the project isn’t the only thing at stake; it’s also about how you work, rather than what you work on. In a short period of time, there is a lot to learn. Expectations can be high at times. You cannot lose your patience and lose hope; you must be willing to work extra hours to get things done.
Here’s a brief note of my experience, work, and learnings from the internship.
1. Pre-design: Make sure you have a thorough understanding of the problem you’re solving.
I learned it from the first project I participated in. The task was to redesign the query form on the mobile app and the web. I was told that the goal is to reduce the drop-out rate by reminding users of the benefits of humanizing and conversational.
It was not a tough assignment, and I had a basic concept of what I would do. And there was already a measurement of my work! I was excited to begin my first real assignment. I jumped right in and banged out solutions even though it was a day early.
When I presented my solution to my supervisor confidently, he asked me some questions:
It was the first and foremost mistake I came across. Fortunately, it happened so early.
The problem you’re trying to solve never occurs in a bubble. It involves business metrics, stakeholder issues, and user demands with budget and timeline considerations. In contrast to unrestricted art, the goal of design is to address the problems within certain limits. Define the purpose and get a thorough knowledge of the task before beginning.
2. Design-ing: Make a strong argument for your choice. On every design, keep asking why.
When I first started at MMT, I didn’t present stakeholders with many different alternatives and variants; instead, I focused on one or two of the best answers that I believed were the most appropriate and straightforward. This is good, but it limits the number of alternative options you may explore.
I have never thought through the tiny details when doing my coursework. However, in the same case as below, my supervisor and teammates asked this several times.
Most of the time, I had a full explanation for my choice — I selected the red hue because it represents caution, and we need to emphasize that in this circumstance. But other times, I just went with my gut instinct — I just ran with the first thought that came to mind.
Never rely on intuition to make a judgment. For example, the white background is unusual, whereas the semi-transparent one appears better. It is a perceptual feeling that is not based on rational reasoning.
The appearance of the interface is not the focus of the design. However, there must be an explanation for the peculiar appearance. It is a perceptual feeling other than rational reason. In most situations, a minor variation results in a completely different experience. In this instance, consider the following options: The white background draws attention to the content, which does not correspond to the information hierarchy; it violates the site/style app’s standard, and so on.
I’m not suggesting that aesthetics isn’t essential. On the contrary, people are affected by aesthetics. However, remember that UX design is more concerned with the product’s functioning than with its appearance.
3. Post-design: Most of this work consists of presentation, communication, and negotiation.
When I started my internship, I spent 80% of my time planning the ideal experience and increasing my deliverables.
When I initially presented my concept to the entire team, I was overwhelmed with the response. The group consisted of product managers, marketers, and engineers. As a potential user, everyone had an opinion on the product.
Junior designers, like me, answer the questions when asked.
I was fortunate to work with a group of competent, skilled, and experienced designers for six months. They taught me how to represent users and interact with other roles, which was good learning.
Senior designers planned probable questions ahead of time, based on who would be attending the meeting. For example, marketers may be excessively worried about the lack of a brand on every page. On the other hand, engineers might be more concerned about whether it is necessary to make the function so complex.
More importantly, the design process for a senior designer is not a lonely fight because they communicate with the stakeholders at an early stage. They design the process to understand the technical constraints, rough test design, or general feedback. When the team feels fully involved, the structure becomes communal.
Why Is Project Closure Important
When you work in a company, you have to accept the challenges and meet the targeted objectives at a given time and cost. You have to look back and reflect on each engagement as the process takes time. As a designer, Project Closing serves an essential purpose for the organization and helps it avoid unfavorable and adverse scenarios.
Reflection
Shipping something to millions of users to help them plan and book their holidays is a mammoth job — and the designers @Go-MMT Design are brilliant at that! 💯
Working at MakeMyTrip has shaped my thinking in a more structured manner. It has helped me look at things from a broader perspective while paying equal attention to the granularity of the subject.
In conclusion, this has been a wonderful ride, and I learned some lessons that will take me a long way.🎢
Thanks, GO-MMT, for this unforgettable experience — Cheers! 🎉
Read my other case studies & articles on my Medium page.
