Ameritas Internship Recap;
6 months of UX internship experience at Ameritas — AI Office, exploring industry UX research practices and AI strategies.
position
UX Specialist Intern
Team
AI Office
Team
AI Office
Team
AI Office
Timeline
6 months (June - December 2024)
overview
6 months, 8+ projects, 2 ownerships
At Ameritas, I contributed to 8+ projects, led analysis for 4 studies, and fully owned 2 — Persona Refresh & Navigation Study. While some projects were fast-paced and others long-term, I learned to balance multiple projects simultaneously, managing them to meet diverse business goals. Most involved collaboration with cross-functional teams and applying mixed-methods. Throughout these experiences, I achieved:
4+ AI research
Participated in 4 Responsible AI projects — AI Perception, AI Maturity, AI-tools Usability Testing, and AI Opportunity Assess.
300+ hrs, $80,000+ savings
Reduced 300+ hours of manual effort and $80,000 of cost annually over the next 5 years by identifying AI automation opportunities.
70+ interviews
Proposed a new menu categorization increasing discoverability accuracy by 30%, as part of Navigation study.
6+ methods
Gained expertise in executing 6+ UX research methodologies including Interview, Survey, Usability testing, Heuristic Evaluation, Card Sorting, and Tree Testing.
30% improvement
Proposed a new menu categorization increasing discoverability accuracy by 30%, as part of Navigation study.
2 shareouts
Had two opportunities to present research insights and recommendations to company leaderships.
takeaways
01
How to shift the focus to experience
I reshaped my understanding of UX, realizing that it goes beyond usability—it’s about deeply understanding people's experiences. At Ameritas, while conducting familiar UX research for web and mobile products, I also had to tackle unfamiliar areas, such as mapping employee workflows and researching AI. I learned that although each project differs, the core approach ramains the same: understanding people to enhance their experiences.
02
How to bring meaningful communications
Managing projects, I learned the value of proactive and timely communication in fostering effective collaborations. When I started taking ownerships that required cross-team collaboration, I relied on weekly update meetings to share progress. I hesitated to reach out in between, worried about disrupting other teams' time. However, I soon realized this approach wasn’t effective for improving efficiency or building trust. Weekly updates often came too late to address real-time changes, challenges, or new ideas. I realized the importance of proactive communication — sharing updates like plan changes, unexpected findings, or inspirations as they occurred through quick messages or calls. This kept everyone aligned and led to more meaningful discussions during meetings.
03
How to balance competing priorities
At times, I felt overwhelmed dealing with multiple projects simultaneously. After discussing this with my manager, I figured my problem was trying to tackle everything at once. Following her advice, I started breaking down project timelines into smaller, manageable steps using Microsoft Teams’ Planner. Instead of fixating on deadlines, I focused on completing one step at a time and marking it off once finished. This approach helped me stay organized and manage competing priorities more effectively.
ackowledgement
Thanks to my team, and especially to my senior UXRs — Anna and Mary, for always supporting me and being my guiding lights throughout my internship journey. I gained invaluable skills in conducting UX research and learned the importance and ways of providing care to teammates along the way. 🤗
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@2025 Justin Jain Lee
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