In the summer of 2018 I got the opportunity to intern at Microsoft Research in Redmond.
When I first arrived at Microsoft, I was expecting to start a new project from scratch, similar to most of the projects I’d worked on for class or research projects. It was an entirely new experience for me to arrive and being asked to assist projects that were well underway. The projects I was asked to work on were deep into the stages of prototyping and testing, and so I had to look at things with an open mind and a new approach.
Different projects require different processes.
Rather than starting by defining problems to solve and working towards solutions from there, my role was to help with the refinement of the existing projects, which required a range of different responsibilities.
Smart Tattoos
Halfway through my internship, I traveled to Chicago to visit the Museum of Science and Industry and demo the technology to museum-goers. The demonstration was a preview to the tattoos’ inclusion in the Wired to Wear exhibit, and we were able to see how the tattoos held up under the repeated wear of a display. Microsoft Research hosts hack-a-thons for its employees, and I created kits with instruction tutorials for a workshop and a hack-a-thon challenge asking employees. I observed and surveyed their experiences after the events to see how they used the Smart Tattoos and what uses and difficulties they encountered while building with them.
Using the feedback gathered, I created 3-D and 2-D prototypes for the updated Smart Tattoo kits and micro-controller designs, as well as designs for covers to protect the micro controllers. I also created illustrations to be converted into functional Smart Tattoos and augmented the tattoos of Microsoft employees to show how Smart Tattoos can be personalized and used with existing tattoos.
Environmental Sensing
At the start of the internship, I observed an hour-long focus group presenting three different environmental-sensing projects to participants who gave their feedback. I then moderated a focus group for future products and helped organize activities where we could gather user feedback. I also created illustrations showing the process of material fabrication and how they worked to include in a paper submitted to TEI. I spent my time building my skills in user experience research and learning how to adapt to new assignments and technologies quickly.
My experience at Microsoft helped me learn how to communicate effectively with people in a wide variety of departments and gather quantitative and qualitative data in new ways and prototype for physical products.
