UX Design Intern @ Google Fitbit

Towards making smallest Fitbit trackers more accessible

Info

TEAM

Andra Nanescu
Cerasela Radu
Andrei L. Magnea
and the rest of Fitbit team

METHODS

Audit / Existing Research Analysis, Usability Heuristics Assessment, Critical User Journey, Persona, Storyboard, Digital Prototype, User Testing

TIMELINE

Aug - Nov, 2021
(12 weeks)

Intro

Due to NDA, I can’t share specific details about my project until the feature launches publicly. If you’re a Googler, you can view my intern project deck internally.

I started with a11y audit and sketches to high-fidelity mockups and prototypes. I worked closely with my hosts, a product manager, UX engineer, and a UX researcher.

I actively worked with the UX researcher to plan, observe, conduct a small UX research study, and incorporate user feedback into new designs, as well as with the UX engineer on a full fledged prototype. I also presented in a Accessibility Design Week and pitched the project to a company-wide audience.

Got my iconic hat way later after the internship came to an end, so it was a highly anticipated photo.

Actively using Fitbit tracker by myself and testing it with others, in this case my mom now wearing Fitbit Luxe full time now.

Since the internship was fully remote, I chose Oslo as my location, and had a chance to work from the Deichmann Library in Bjørvika sometimes.

Made sure that the remote setup works well in a tiny apartment. Working always with 3 drinks on the side.

Takeaways

  • Unexplored territory: There is still a lot of aspects of digital accessibility that is not explored yet so it might be the case that nobody knows the answers yet

  • Multi-product feature: Always good to consider how a new feature might benefit other products (See how it fits into the entire app and larger roadmap)

  • Seeing UX practice from many angles: Learning from the UX researcher about planning research session and working with a UX Engineer on a prototype was great way to see the vast skill sets that designers can hone

  • Advocating for your work is crucial: It is always a good thing to share your work to connect with people that might be as passionate about the topic as you

  • Working with limitations of a hardware: It was truly amazing to work on accessibility on such a small device, the boundary of what is possible are defined more harshly