Zebra Technologies

UX Design Internship

Designed and tested a vision-guided robotics solution

TIME PERIOD

>3 months (May 2023 - August 2023)

RESPONSIBILITIES

UX + UI Design, Competitive Analysis, User Testing, Presentations, Lo-Fi + Mid-Fi Prototypes

TEAM

Vision-Guided Robotics (1 product manager, 2 UX designers, 2 UX researchers, and 5 developers

In the Summer of 2023, I was brought on to help design an application for vision-guided robotics .

The Situation:

  • We wanted this desktop application to allow users to program and configure a robot with machine vision so that it can pick up objects in warehouses, factories, etc.

  • One challenge we had was that the development team we were working with had never worked with UX researchers or designers before.

  • Additionally, we, UX researchers and designers, were highly unfamiliar with the technology in question and had to work at an aggressive timeline.

What I Did:

  • In order to tackle this challenging situation, I did as much research as I could to familiarize myself with Vision-Guided Robotics - some of the things I did includes reading analyses that the developers conducted of other similar products, studying the technology itself and acquainting myself with the accompanying terminology, and asking as many questions as I could.

  • With my help, by the end of the internship, we had successfully defined the requirements of the product, designed a low-fidelity prototype, and created a mid-fidelity prototype using the findings obtained through user testing.

My Impact:

  1. Designed a complex machine vision desktop application for industrial automation on an aggressive timeline. Collaborated with cross-functional partners from research to design to testing. Onboarded quickly for a project pertaining to a highly technical and unfamiliar technology.

  2. Created the flows for the machine-vision application, of which includes “object teaching”, “camera calibration”, and more based off of competitive analyses of existing, similar products, as well as research of said technology.

  3. Helped my team win first place (out of a total of 19 teams) in the Innovation Challenge of 2023, where we outlined ways the company could be more competitive in the market and recruit more people. We were one of two teams that won.

What I learned:

  1. How to discover valuable lessons from every interaction, regardless of the other person’s expertise or field - Throughout my time at Zebra, I would schedule casual virtual calls with other designers and engineers (as well as professionals from other disciplines), speaking with up to 30 individuals. This enriching experience not only expanded my perspective but also honed my professional networking skills.

  2. Vision-Guided Robotics and AI - I obviously learned a lot about how vision-guided robotics worked, not only from the expertise of my teammates and the process of working with them on this project, but also through my own studies on how the technology worked in order to get a better idea of the project we were working on. Additionally, because I scheduled virtual calls with Zebra employees that work with AI, I also had the privilege of learning a great deal about AI.

  3. Setting a UX Design process from scratch - Because the software development team we worked with lacked experience working with UX designers and researchers, we took the lead in guiding them through the process. This was crucial in achieving optimal usability in this product’s design, within the given time constraints. This experience was overall valuable as it prepares me for potential future roles where I may be working in environments with low UX maturity, where it may be my job to enhance existing processes.

Reflection

This application is currently in the process of getting shipped, so I am unable to share any deliverables. However, if you are interested in learning more about my project, please reach out to me!

Me @ the Zebra Technologies Chicago office