Design thinking and user-centered design have been increasingly recognized throughout a multitude of fields as a viable tool for success. In order for students to thrive in the industry, they must be well versed in the necessary tools and have the skills to apply them.
The leadership team of Design at UCSD, a pre-professional design thinking student organization at UC San Diego, was recently invited to experience the offices of Google, Lyft, and LinkedIn in San Francisco over Presidents’ Day weekend. Here, designers from the companies spoke about their design processes and what made each of them unique. In previous years, the student group has toured companies such as Adobe, Wish, Salesforce, IDEO, and Workday. This annual trip allows students to engage with professional designers, gaining insight into how design works in the industry.
Google was the first company that Design at UCSD visited. What sets this office space apart from others are the large community spaces, commitment to themes, and unique art pieces. One of the most striking rooms the team got to see was a soundproof music room within a cafe, filled with copious amounts of instruments.
While on the tour, the board had the opportunity to talk to three designers, each from a different field. One designer worked on Google’s material design system, where he went into how components are made and used throughout Google. Another designer was a creative director for the Google Play store, while the last one redesigned the entire Google Search experience. Speaking to these professionals gave the students a better understanding of how Google’s various design teams are able to collaborate in order to create cohesive platforms and applications.
Lyft was the next company that the students toured. The lobby was decorated with neon lights bearing the Lyft logo. The halls of the office were painted bright pink, and one of the meeting rooms you could only gain access by going through a secret entrance through a painting on the wall.
The company put on a panel featuring three of their product designers from the businesses, riders, and drivers teams. The panel shared their personal career journeys and gave students tips on how to prepare themselves for design in the industry. Designers explained how their respective teams incorporate foundational principles of user-centered design to create unique experiences for their stakeholders. The panel closed with a Q and A session, where students were given advice and encouragement on how to enter the industry. One of the panelists, a UCSD alumnus, explained how he ended up in design after graduating with a non-design-related degree. His story showed that even after college, designers can take unconventional paths to end up as a product designer.
We also had a chance to speak to what Lyft’s recruiters were looking for. What stood out was that they valued visual design a lot. If someone’s portfolio was not up to visual par, that is a big strike against a candidate.
Lastly, the design team arrived at LinkedIn’s 26-story skyscraper,. The spacious lobby was covered with hardwood and a gigantic logo. We were greeted by our alumni, Vincent Tran, who had connected us to meet with their design team.
The LinkedIn designers gave us a talk about what it’s like working as a UX Designer and Researcher. They talked to us about how they were challenged at LinkedIn. One designer in particular mentioned that a whole new world of use cases became apparent when she started focusing on the international side of the product. The designers continued talking about their journeys as designers and their career advice on how to come across UX opportunities. They particularly highlighted making sure to connect with people on LinkedIn.
The LinkedIn panels also gave us helpful insights on the UX hiring process. The recruiter explained to us that LinkedIn cared a lot about the processes on a portfolio. The visuals are a plus, but if the process and reasoning are not there, they will not move forward with a candidate.
The Bay Area trip gave us great insights and understanding of how design teams operate in the tech industry. Through the talks, we were able to the similarities and differences between what we learned in school and in the real world. On top of that, we learned that each company had very different design processes for how their product came to be. Thanks again to Google, Lyft, Linkedin, and the UCSD Design Lab for making this trip possible. We are grateful for the opportunity and are excited to share the things we’ve learned with the rest of our community.
