From Wireframes to Reality: My Journey as a UX Design Intern at igloo!

Ever wondered what it’s like to do an internship at igloo? Today we’re excited to have Sherman share more about his recent UX Design internship experience at igloo, which he completed from May 2024 to August 2024! 

Hello, Sherman! What made you interested in applying for an internship with igloo?

I first heard of igloo when I attended a networking event where Anthony, the co-founder and CEO, was an invited panelist sharing about his work experience in the US working on his startup. As I learnt about Anthony’s resilience and grit that led him to continue hustling and persisting to promote igloo locks at various trade fairs and events despite initial rejections, it inspired me to continue working hard in carving out my niche within the startup space. 

Having worked as an early employee in a few startups since my polytechnic days, I have always demonstrated a keen interest in startups given the dynamic and rich environment of applying design thinking principles in building, launching and talking to customers. At igloo, having a front row seat to a growth stage startup with an ambitious and driven team that builds amazing smart tech products for modern homes – is the best if not one of the best learning experiences anyone looking to explore a career in the startup space should go for. One day, I hope to build a product that people want, and to change the world for the better :)

How was your internship experience with igloo? Tell us more about some projects you worked on!

It is extremely dynamic and fast-paced! Every week comes with its own unique set of challenges and learning experiences. From running an internal company-wide design thinking workshop to crafting user personas and copy for website wireframes, I found every opportunity to be an eye-opening experience – in learning how to gather user insights through customer interviews, learning how to write and design with clarity and precision and most importantly working with remote and distributed team across APAC and US. 

Working alongside and learning from highly motivated and passionate teammates from Bali, US and EU was an invaluable experience of my internship experience. Janan, the regional marketing lead, provided with me the opportunity to build, test and iterate with various design thinking initiatives, allowing me to test out the UX skills that I have learnt from my previous UX design bootcamp and startup experiences.

Going through wireframes with my manager, Janan!

What aspects of the internship role or company mission appealed to you the most?

High autonomy, high accountability – this aspect of a company culture appealed the most to me. Being able to drive projects from 0 to 1, and seeing it come to fruition is one of the most rewarding experiences of interning at igloo. It is not everyday that you can build a project from scratch and deliver it to the team. 

For example, I was given the autonomy to prepare and run a Design Thinking workshop, which is a key highlight of how igloo offers an open platform for teammates, even interns, to be building and creating for a dynamic and fast-growing startup! Through the insights gathered from the company-wide workshop, I was able to aggregate the inputs and guide how the company grows. This project showcases how open and ground-up culture that igloo promotes in the company. 

Additionally, being able to learn from other team members in the product team has value added to my overall learning experience. A key highlight of igloo’s open culture is being able to approach anyone in the team, whether in-person or online, for help and to learn more about what they do in the company. They are always willing to offer support if there is anything I require help with!

Celebrated Eco Day with the team!

Looking back, what do you consider to be the highlight of your internship experience?

Talking to customers. During my 3-month internship, I was able to gather firsthand insights from actual customers about their pain points. Being able to uncover unique insights and facts from each customer helped to build my understanding  Applying my design thinking principles, I was able to aggregate these insights into actionable customer personas for the marketing team to create customer-centric copy and high-performing landing pages to convey igloo’s unique value propositions to prospective customers looking to transform their tenant or rental experience. 

Gathering customer insights about the products is one of the most valuable takeaways for me, as it has sharpened my design thinking skills and helped me to build better products under my startup project. Despite my short stint here, I was able to make new connections and interact with many igloohomies around the world, especially from Indonesia and the EU!