Haitong’s Tencent Internship
Due to the non-disclosure agreement (NDA), I cannot present the product or project I worked on or share any detailed information. However, I can talk about my experiences and learnings from a higher level. If you are interested to know more, feel free to reach out to me! If you are a current Tencent employee, I can put you in touch with my supervisor for more information.
This is my first official internship in an internet and technology company, and also my first official internship related to product design. It has been a very special experience for me, and I am proud to say that during this process, I’ve grown a lot as an evidence-based designer, a user-centered product manager and a team player who’s not afraid to take the initiative.
What did I do?
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Completed intern project on redesign of Bole, Tencent’s referral system
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Assisted 5-10 user research projects, involving 5000+ Tencent employees
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Iterated 12 times on Bole’s redesign plan and report
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3-5 individual project update meetings, 60+ daily and weekly reports
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Independently conducted 7 user interview sessions
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Helped scope out pain points for Tencent’s overall recruitment process
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Collaborated closely with PMs, designers and developers of employee products team
Skills & Tools
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UX & visual design using Sketch
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Market research, user research & data analysis
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User-centered design thinking
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Identifying major pain points
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Product ideation and iteration
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Effective communication & getting feedback
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Human resource management & recruitment technologies
My Learnings & Reflections
Taking the Initiative
As a PM, you don’t have all the requirements handed down to you. Instead, you are the one that needs to identify the problems and ask for the essential things you want. It is crucial to take feedback from senior coworkers, but also important to have your own thoughts on what’s going on!
Designing with Constraints
The product I was working on has been existing for about 10 years, all the pre-existing features were all carefully designed by others. The HR team also has certain things that they cannot give up. So I needed to do research on every detail I planned on changing.
Putting Users First
User-centered is the most frequently emphasized phrase I ran into at work. No matter how well I thought I knew about the market and the current product, users always inspired me with new stories and feedback. Product design is more about empathy than self-expression.
Becoming a Team Player
As a newcomer to the team working on an old product, it is very important for me to consult opinions and past experience from senior coworkers. Every piece of advice is valuable for me, and I would evaluate all the feedback I have when making decisions.
What Can I Improve?
Thinking back on all the projects I’ve worked on, I think it would be important for me to ask even more questions. It is the most direct and effective way for me to quickly get onboard with the team. Also, I think I should be more concise and purposeful during my research process & while working with our cross-functioning team. At the end of this internship, I presented my report and design solutions, and set up future directions for improving the user experience of Bole, and I really hope my work will contribute to the official product update.
Outside of Work...
Good views & good food at Tencent's Shenzhen office!
Participated in events – English corner, rock-climbing, and more!
Attended seminars, studied remotely at Tencent Academy
Explored the beautiful Shenzhen Bay area during weekends
