Published in · 5 min read · Sep 12, 2022
This summer, Chegg welcomed over 40 interns across our Santa Clara, San Francisco, New York, and Portland offices. Chegg’s internship program is about getting real-world experience with collaborative projects and exposure to the corporate environment, while being given the opportunity to network. Our UX team had three incredible interns — we asked them to reflect on their experiences and share advice for future interns.
Elsa Jerry, UX research intern
- Located in the New York, New York office
- 3rd year undergraduate student
- B.S. in UX Design at Purdue University
Mona Luo, UX design intern
- Located in the New York, New York office
- 2nd year graduate student
- MFA in Interaction Design, School of Visual Arts
Ish*ta Nirbhavne, UX content design intern
- Located in the Santa Clara, California office
- 2nd year graduate student
- M.S. in Digital Media, University of Southern California
Why did you decide to intern at Chegg?
Elsa: Chegg gave me an excellent opportunity to develop my UX research skills and help identify and solve their customers’ problems. The customers of Chegg are students, and as a student, I felt I would be able to understand their problems and put myself in their shoes.
Mona: Chegg is popular among students, and I’ve also used Chegg before. I’m eager to make a difference for the people around me. I hoped to gain hands-on experience and improve my collaboration skills through the internship. Chegg allowed me to work on meaningful projects in a collaborative environment.
Ish*ta: I wanted to explore Content Design in the tech industry, and Chegg was one of the few companies hiring for this role. The job description looked exciting and outlined everything I wanted to work on. Through the interview process, I researched EdTech and realized how Chegg is leading in that sector — I was drawn in immediately.
What did you work on as a UX intern at Chegg, and what were your main responsibilities?
Elsa: I worked on the Mathway app and Chegg’s signed-in homepage. My main responsibilities were to conduct preliminary research, like interviews and competitor analysis, and run usability studies to provide feedback and direction on designs.
Mona: As a UX design intern, I explored design solutions to meet user and business goals and made decisions based on users’ and stakeholders’ feedback. The design process was iterative; I started with sketches, then moved to wireframes and high-fidelity prototypes. In addition, I closely collaborated with the UX research intern, content design intern, and product management interns and frequently communicated with stakeholders for their input.
Ish*ta: I worked on two main projects: Chegg’s UX Content Design Style Guide and increasing repeat visits to the course dashboard. I led the implementation of the style guide and was the primary content designer for the course dashboard project. I also provided Content Design support to the native application team throughout my internship.
How does conducting UX in an industry setting compare to what you’ve done or learned in school?
Elsa: In my UX classes at school, the students must do everything, from research to delivering the designs to the client. At Chegg, there is a clear distinction between UX research, design, content, and product management. The role of a UX researcher is very specific, and there is much more collaboration between roles than I thought.
Mona: It is more business-driven and practical in an industry setting. I needed to consider not only the user needs but also the feasibility of my design and how it would contribute to the larger goal from a business perspective. Multiple design teams may be working on the same product simultaneously. Proactive communication is essential due to the interdependency of different teams. This is very different from doing group projects at school.
Ish*ta: My learnings in school gave me a high-level understanding of digital media and web strategy. My role at Chegg was more hands-on, gave me a deeper understanding of the cross-functionality within UX, and informed me of the day-to-day tasks I’d tackle in this role.
What skills did you develop in your internship that you didn’t previously have?
Elsa: I think I developed my writing skills the most. Towards the end of a research project, you write a headline that goes out to a large group of people across the company. I had to summarize my findings in two sentences, which was quite difficult because there was so much I wanted to share about the research, but at the same time, I had to make sure I got the point across quickly.
Mona: Mostly soft skills, such as meeting facilitation, feedback collection and synthesis, collaboration in a cross-functional team, and prototyping with a design system.
Ish*ta: I learned Figma! It’s such an essential design tool that almost everyone in the UX world will end up using at some point. I also learned how to work with JIRA and Confluence. Other than technical tools, I honed several soft skills such as multitasking, presenting, time management, clear communication, and more.
What was a major takeaway you’ve gained from this internship?
Elsa: My main takeaway is to be flexible with the projects you are working on. Sometimes the timeline or requirements can change, and we should be able to adapt quickly.
Mona: Over-communication is extremely important when working in a large team. Always keep your partners in the loop, and don’t be afraid to reach out to people if you need their input.
Ish*ta: Knowing that I want to be a full-time content designer. I believe that’s what an internship is for — solidifying a career choice or learning your strengths and weaknesses. This internship gave me exactly what I was looking for.
What was your favorite moment from the internship?
Elsa: My favorite moment would be the day we had a scavenger hunt and I was able to talk to a lot of people at the office I wouldn’t normally talk to. Everyone at the NYC office is so friendly and welcoming.
Mona: Presenting my design to a large group of people to collect feedback. People were very supportive and gave out a lot of constructive feedback.
Ish*ta: I have two favorite moments from the projects I worked on. The first: finalizing the style guide and moving the guidelines from the word doc to the final template on Figma. It was so rewarding to watch it come together after working on it for nearly three months. The second: is the first brainstorming session for the course dashboard project. The UX and PM interns got together to discuss ideas, and it was a productive session that left me feeling positive about what was to come.
What advice would you give future interns in UX?
Elsa: My biggest advice is to stay curious and meet as many people as possible.
Mona: Be proactive and confident. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and show your work to the broader team. People appreciate your questions and contributions!
Ish*ta: Be proactive, curious, and open to feedback. Set up 1-on-1s with cross-functional partners to learn more about their role, ask questions (I cannot stress this enough), and reach out to people for feedback on your work (even if it’s in the early stages).
