Delaney Wong, a student at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, secured an internship at Google after applying online and preparing thoroughly for the interview process. Wong, who is majoring in interactive media arts, said her background in graphic design and branding helped her explain her work and design decisions during interviews.
“Coming from a graphic design and branding background, I felt comfortable talking through my design process and the reasoning behind my decisions,” Wong said. She also sought advice from user experience designers and former Google interns to understand the company’s technical recruiting process.
Wong is spending her summer working on Google Chrome as a User Experience Design Intern. Her responsibilities include creating user flows, conducting research, designing wireframes, building prototypes, presenting designs to team members, and collaborating with engineers and product managers.
“As a User Experience Design Intern working on Google Chrome, my role is focused on envisioning how people experience the web and designing solutions to make Chrome safer, simpler, and more enjoyable for users. My primary job responsibilities include creating user flows, conducting research, designing wireframes, and building interactive prototypes and mockups. I also have to pitch my designs in presentations with team members and work closely with engineers and product managers who decide whether or not to implement them,” she explained.
Wong highlighted the importance of teamwork in her role. “I’m most excited about learning how to better communicate and collaborate with cross-functional partners like product managers, software engineers, user experience researchers, and user experience writers. A lot of the work of a UX designer involves advocating for and defending your design decisions while balancing different priorities among teams. Learning to work within these kinds of constraints is a challenge, and I’m grateful to have this experience this summer,” she said.
She has connected with colleagues around the world while working at Google’s St. John’s Terminal offices in New York City. Wong noted that interns benefit from networking events across various departments such as Maps, Search, Labs, and Classroom. She has collaborated with designers based in cities including Munich, Paris, Montreal, and Zurich.
“The free food and coffee is definitely an awesome perk, and the Google offices are all unique with their own work lounges, cafes, and amazing views of the city,” Wong said about workplace benefits. “I spend my lunch break eating with my manager or other interns in one of the cafes in our building… Interns also receive a little welcome box of Google merch that includes the iconic intern spinny hat—my favorite piece of company swag for sure!”
Reflecting on portrayals of internships at Google in popular culture such as “The Internship,” Wong commented: “The Internship is a pretty hilarious depiction of a Google internship that I wouldn’t say is entirely accurate to my experience so far but it does a good job of capturing some fun aspects of the culture and company perks.”
Wong says she remains open about her future career path but wants to continue working where art meets technology. She hopes to stay involved in interaction design while contributing to innovative projects.
