My experience & knowledge gained
In summary, I learned a lot during my practical internship. It was an amazing and fun time, especially being able to work with a great mentor, who presented me with many opportunities. Since being required to take on responsibility at an early stage by for example, presenting my ideas in ideations, asking for prototype requirements at meetings, and presenting my prototypes on my own, I was able to grow and develop myself as an interaction designer. Therefore, it has become much easier for me to be confident in my abilities and stand by my design decisions, and defend them if need be.
I have also learned to assert myself in different situations, such as meetings. Unfortunately, some colleagues in the department did not look at the prototypes objectively, and from a user's point of view, instead they brought their personal feelings into the evaluation. As a result, I had to stand firm countless times and explain that one has to put your personal feelings and opinions aside and see the prototype/product from the user's perspective. Nevertheless, this did not always work, as the specialist department has the last say. These situations taught me to find good and supported arguments for my design decisions. Thus, I often tried to include examples from other applications, articles, or the Bosch style guide to support my arguments, before presentations or meetings. This approach was usually very well received and helped to avoid unnecessary discussions.
Throughout my internship I truly had the feeling of being an important and productive part of the team. Largely, because I was asked often for my opinion and had the feeling that what I said was taken seriously. The very pleasant working atmosphere also contributed to me having an overall fun and positive experience.
During the six months, I was able to gain a good insight into how an international company operates and to further educate myself in numerous topics, especially aspects of user experience design. I particularly enjoyed the fact that I was able to independently transform my ideas into prototypes. Furthermore, I am very happy in the positive feedbacks and ultimately the success I achieved with my prototypes. This internship also showed me that dedication and commitment to your work is noticed and very often rewarded. Most of all I am very grateful, as this experience exposed me to so much, that I now surer than ever, that being an interaction designer is what I want to be later in my life.
