In 2017, I migrated from a different industry and made the brave plunge to become a UX designer. Enrolled at the University of Toronto’s iSchool as a grad student with a design concentration, I was selected for a co-op term at Klick Health. Being the second (ever) intern on the UX team, I spent a period of four months with the good folks. This article chronicles my experience there as a UX intern.
For those not in the know about the organization, here is a quick blurb:
“Klick Health is the world’s largest independent health marketing and commercialization agency headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The company offers marketing, operational, and learning services, such as custom web application development, consulting, content and creative development, web analytics, e-Learning course development and learning management systems, website design and web usability consultation to the healthcare industry.”
So, what were my takeaways?
Like any other company…Not really!
I had some initial expectations or ideas about how working at Klick would be like. I thought it would be like at any other company with the focus on getting the job done. Moreover, I had a belief that with the large number of people within the organization, you would simply get lost within the sheer hierarchy. And just like many of these companies purport to have a vision of transparency, of communicating their values or vision from the top-down, it simply does not happen often.
Employees are affectionately referred to as ‘Klicksters’, an identification linked to a communal experience. People are encouraged to create bonds, in that your colleagues are more than those you simply go to work with. This extends from your base team all the way across departmental boundaries. Weekly communal events such as Tavern Fridays and Pizza Wednesdays allow everyone the chance to hang out with one another in the large cafe space. This extends further with recreational excursions such as exclusive movie screenings, ‘Ride for Heart’ bike to company outings to ‘Wonderland’. From this, I really got a sense of connection and community — I felt like I belonged.
At the same time, if you wanted to develop professionally, you were in the right place to do so. From my onboarding orientation towards the end of my co-op term, I was provided ample opportunity to learn about industry and improve my skills. This ranged from departmental educational events involving UX topics (e.g. usability testing) to inhouse workshops (e.g. how to ‘level up’ as UX designers). On a more general level, there were also ‘Lunch and Learn’ sessions on diseases within the health field (e.g. cystic fibrosis) and even professional speaker talks (e.g. Canadian artist Kent Monkman).
Furthermore during my tenure, it was impressed upon me the belief of empowering people and eliminating bureaucracy wherever possible. These paired beliefs were discussed during the onboarding — in that departments within the company were made no larger than one hundred people. This was explained in that any more than this number would stifle communication and impede the growth of personal and meaningful connections within the organization.
However, what I valued most at Klick first and foremost was that I felt like I was treated as a person they were invested in and not simply as an intern who might be there temporarily. I was expected not only to be competent, but to grow professionally and as a person.
What did this mean on a practical level?
At the beginning of the co-op, I had the idea to create a Meetup on UX ethics but was unsure whether the concept would work or where I would get the support from. I was paralyzed by self-doubt and did not know how to get the project off the ground. But I decided to begin a conversation with my personal mentor on the UX team. I was surprised in that although he disagreed with some of my ideas, he supported me in the endeavour. For him, it was a means for me to grow.
My mentor had me present my ideas to those internally on the events team. I was astonished when they supported the creation of the event, providing a speaker and acting as a host and sponsor. Even more so when they decided to involve me intimately as the main organizer. This meant chairing planning sessions in the run down to the event.
From the UX side, I also found UX designers on my team who had a passion and belief in ethics. Being interested, they would volunteer their time to share their thoughts on the subject, even going so far as to follow up with potential topics for future Meetups.
This collaboration yielded Klick’s first Meetup iMPACT UX Ethics TO in July 2018.
In all, these were positive experiences where I was given a ‘sky is the limit’ support. Despite being an intern, I was given responsibility and invited into an inclusive atmosphere where I could develop in the way I wanted to proceed.
But what about being a UX designer and intern?
During the four month co-op, I rotated among three different UX team subdivisions. In each stint, I was then paired with a senior designer to focus on a UX topic for three weeks. See below table:
In the rotations, I learned that UX designers at Klick are encouraged to be all-rounders — equally skilled at everything from UI, user research to strategy. Though it is notable that strategy tends to be tasked to those more experienced on the team.
From a work process level, UX designers tend to collaborate with different departments (e.g. creative, development, project management) as a team for billable work. In this regard, I could see that as designers we were not simply token in representing UX at a shallow level — a horror story heard at many a large organization eager to slap the ‘Got UX’ label on a product. Rather, we were actors and consultants involved at all stages of a design process, from understanding the problem to testing the product. In this regard, we truly were both watchdogs and gatekeepers to the experience of users.
If there is one lesson as a co-op…
I learned to be brave and take the initiative in learning. Yeah, it sounds little cliché but it was really that. You only really get as much as you put in! Highlighted by the below quote:
“The basic difference between an ordinary man and a warrior is that a warrior takes everything as a challenge, while the ordinary man takes everything as either a blessing or a curse.” -Don Juan, Yaqui Shaman
This meant I had to take an active attitude to learn, approaching any task as an opportunity to learn and challenge myself — rather than sit passively expecting to ‘learn on the job’. This also meant overriding my ‘imposter syndrome’ anxiety, self-questioning whether I could contribute adequately or deserved to belong.
As the Nike trademark goes… Just do it!
Here were two examples.
1) UX designers are encouraged to be curious, doubly so as an intern. I applied this to be fearless in inquiring about design decisions or work processes. At one point I realized that there was potential to expand on the UX team’s knowledge base in certain topic areas. I then took the initiative to inquire and was rewarded with the opportunity to create a document guide on progressive web apps (PWAs) and later an accessibility guide resource (WCAG 2.0 and 2.1).
2) I come from a research background. As such, UI work was an area I had less experience in and felt uncomfortable doing.
I began to understand this as an important part of my toolkit, signifying a leap in my growth as a designer. To build these skills, I cloned client websites using Sketch and Axure. Via these exercises and with the consultation of my mentor, I was able to gain an insight into design decision-making at a digital agency and grow as a designer.
Closing thoughts on the co-op journey
I had a strong feeling that a lot of the people I met (especially on the UX team) were those who I could see myself interacting with as colleagues within industry and dare I say it — friends. They have become connections I feel will last way beyond the co-op, and into my later years as a designer. This is especially true as although the UX community in TO is exploding now, it’s still relatively small. Everyone you meet is therefore significant.
I also want to emphasize that work didn’t feel like I was doing it on the behalf of someone else. After earning a certain amount of responsibility, I was given real agency (with a certain amount of safety net) and it was up to me to decide how I wanted to proceed.
Would I recommend working here as an intern or be hired in a normal capacity? I think it comes down to the checkboxes you expect of an organization you would like to be part of and who you identify yourself as.
- Do you want to be part of an innovative company leading the charge on digital health?
- Do you want to be part of an inclusive atmosphere and active community?
- Do you like free cold-brew coffee and kombucha? (Great treats at the cafe!)
- Are you keen on owning your professional and personal development?
- Are you a nice person, with character and empathy?
If so, maybe this agency is the right place for you. I certainly enjoyed my time and hope to be back!
Feel free to reach out if you have any questions, comments. I would be happy to respond.
