Over the last 10 weeks, I’ve had the privilege of supporting Kaptivate to help clients tell their stories. This experience taught me the significant role and impact of design in making businesses and government work effectively. When leveraged correctly, design can empower citizens, broadcast outcomes, and drive future innovations.
One of the great parts about Kaptivate’s internship program was the team's commitment to my growth as a designer spanning across all aspects of the company and its core offerings: business development, marketing, client-facing work, and internal professional development. Witnessing, and being part of the work Kaptivate operates helped me understand how an in-house design team supports a business and its needs. Within
data storytelling and information design, I supported creative efforts making infographics and report layouts. With
user experience (UX), I applied the skills I’ve learned in school such as user-research and wireframing. And with
branding, I worked with Kaptivate’s internal marketing team to illustrate an icon set depicting their core services and other designed assets for social media.
With so much hands-on experience in a brief amount of time, I’ve picked up more skills and learned more lessons than I can put in one blog. The following are some of the most important lessons that will inform my future work:
- The gap between academic design and professional practice are different in ways I didn’t expect.
I was surprised at how much of the design process in professional practice was similar to what I have learned in school; user research, user personas, journey mapping, and wireframing are all common between the two. What was different from the classroom was how we balanced those responsibilities while working as a team. I learned many important lessons about interpersonal work and communication.
- Creating buy-in for design by putting it in the language of a business case.
At several points throughout the summer, I identified new tools or design processes that I thought might benefit Kaptivate and their clients. To gain buy-in, I learned how to write a business case to explain how certain design tools could not only make for better design work but better fit the business needs of each client.
- Sharing skills that don’t necessarily line up with your job description can make room for unexpected work.
In the first week of my internship, I was invited to share some of my past work with the entire Kaptivate team. I shared work that wasn’t necessarily relevant to what I thought I would be working on this summer. To my surprise, after learning that I had done illustration work in the past, I was encouraged to leverage those skills on projects such as the Kaptivate icon set. I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to work on those projects if I had not shared my past work.
As I move forward on my academic and professional paths, I hold all of these and countless other lessons from this experience with sincere gratitude. On a professional level, I was exposed to how design and technology can drive business outcomes and make an impact for clients. The Kaptivate team’s commitment to work-based learning and mentorship has undoubtedly made me a better designer and teammate.
On a personal level, I met so many colleagues who care deeply about the work they are doing and the impact that they are having. I have learned so much from every person I met at Kaptivate – but above all, the team's commitment to quality and passion for their work has inspired me to bring those standards to every project I take on.