Screens of the redesigned website

During my final year of university, I began my search for an internship that would allow me to explore my passion for UI/UX design. After reviewing my portfolio, Sonic Labs offered me the position as an intern in their UX/UI department, which was the dream internship I had always dreamed of. With that great company, I was able to apply my knowledge and skills to real-life projects.

The task at hand was to redesign Sonic Labs' website, an opportunity I knew would challenge my skills and push me to grow as a designer. My first project as a UX/UI design intern was filled with excitement and nervousness.

In this article, I share with you the challenges, learnings, and growth I experienced during this exciting project. I gained valuable experience and learned some critical lessons that will help me in my future endeavours.

Taking the Challenge:

The redesign of a company's website can be a challenging task, especially for a novice like me. Due to my solid understanding of UI/UX principles, I eagerly accepted the challenge.

Conducting Thorough Research:

As a first step, I studied Sonic Labs' brand, its values, and its target audience. Then I began my redesign process by conducting research by analyzing Sonic Labs' current website, studying user analytics, taking feedback, and creating user personas that identified user pain points.

Additionally, I compared our website to various competitor sites and took screenshots to determine industry trends and gain insight into what makes a successful software company website. After that, I started working on integrating the desired features and user flow, while also dedicating my time to creating wireframes and style guides during the next stage.

Wireframes of the redesigned website

User-centered Design:

The website is designed with user-centric solutions in mind by putting users and their needs in the forefront at every stage of the design process. I focused more on the usability of the website to make it simple and intuitive so that users can gain a better user experience on it. The best practices I used in this project were the clear presentation of key information, the simplicity of the UI, and user-friendly navigation.

Iterative Design Process:

Our primary responsibility as designers (especially juniors like us) is to consistently consider the target audience and the design approach. The design process is iterative, and I learned quickly how important it is. After creating wireframes and prototypes to test different concepts, I asked my seniors for feedback. Step by step, I learned how to start a project and develop a design.

Getting feedback from team mates

Consistency is a must

It was important to me to maintain Sonic Labs' brand identity throughout the redesign process. I learned about typography, color schemes and created a color palette using the company's brand colors.

Collaborative Learning Experience:

The best part of this project is being able to work with Sonic Labs' experienced professionals. As a UI/UX intern, working with team members like UI/UX designers, Graphic designers and SEO analysts provided me with priceless knowledge and insight into various aspects of web design. The guidance and feedback they provided me contributed greatly to my growth.

Whenever I faced uncertainty, I was able to rely on my seniors for technical and creative guidance. They gave me a lot of valuable support throughout this project, which helped me understand how to create mobile-friendly designs. Their feedback on my project was extremely helpful.

Choosing Visuals

Images have the ability to tell stories and inspire emotions. Our graphic designers worked closely with me to develop compelling narratives based on carefully selected visuals. It was important for me to explore various concepts, themes, and visual styles in order to maximize the user experience. Through aesthetics and usability, I worked together to make sure that the images enhanced the overall user experience.

Lessons Learned:

1. Break the silence.

The main lesson I've learned is how important it is to express your viewpoints to others. Communication becomes much easier when you openly share your ideas. As a result of this project experience, I have learned more than just job skills; it has taught me a valuable life lesson.

2. Risks are better than we think.

This was my first project experience in my career. All the responsibilities were in my hand. So I was so nervous and thought about how to start. Gradually with the help of my mentors, I could overcome my fears and carry on.

3. Relaxed mind will bring you better ideas.

In my mind, there was a point where I stressed the importance of how I could contribute more to this project. Sometimes felt that my creativity had slowed down. That's simply not true. Relaxing your mind is all you need to regain your creative spark. Take your time to relax your mind when you run out of creative ideas. When you relax your mind, you will be able to come up with more magical ideas than ever before.

4. Accepting feedback helps in preventing errors.

My mentors also taught me that receiving feedback is an essential part of learning. No matter what the feedback is, it provides an opportunity to boost self-confidence, avoid repeating mistakes, and improve relationships with mentors.

Conclusion:

It was a great experience for me to redesign Sonic Labs' website as an intern in UI/UX design. During the course of the project, I learned how to overcome practical difficulties and gained knowledge of user-centric design, improved my skills, and learned how to work collaboratively. Being surrounded by such talented and passionate people was a real honor for me. I am grateful for the opportunity Sonic Labs gave me and I have enjoyed learning from you. Greetings and thank you very much.