UX Design Internship at Google Chrome

Contributed to multiple high-impact projects on Chrome, designing and prototyping interfaces and new features to improve product usability, accelerate project timelines, and influence product strategy.

My Role

UX Design Intern

Team

Chrome UX

Company

Google

Duration

May 2025 - August 2025

Tools

Figma, Google Workspace

I spent the summer of 2025, having an absolute blast working at Google as a UX designer based in San Francisco.
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I learned how important it was to work as a collaborator, a role that goes beyond just being a designer. This includes my initiative to host workshops with cross-functional teams to pinpoint the project’s direction and being confident in my decisions to justify design decisions.

Google

My time at Google as a UX Design Intern on the Chrome UX team, working on Chrome Enterprise

I led two projects during the summer, focusing on high-traffic pages on Chrome Enterprise. My work is under NDA so this case study will only shows my main learnings.

Key Accomplishments

Led design for two projects, effectively communicated to cross-functional teams (PM, designers, engineers, UXR), securing launch approval, and driving development towards a Q4 2025 launch

Identified an overlooked feature with high user value and proposed a solution, leading to a new workstream assigned to an FTE designer to bring the feature to life

Designed UI for highly visited product pages within Chrome Enterprise admin console, driving improved usability and contributing to increased customer retention and new product adoption

Accelerated project timelines and built consensus by leading workshops with PM and Engineers, ensuring design solutions balanced user needs with business goals and technical feasibility

Proactively supported product strategy by visualizing early-stage concepts, generating new feature ideas, and influencing project direction for 2026

Internship Overview

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Gaining Context

To gain context for the product and user, I first familiarized myself with the users by reviewing user research reports and speaking with the UX researcher. I then conducted a fresh-eyes audit of the product to understand the existing experience. I also gained a deeper understanding of the product by meeting 1 on 1 with the PM, engineer, and designers, who provided insights from the business, engineering, and user perspectives.

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Collaborating with cross-functional teams

I approach collaboration with cross-functional teams by clarifying product requirements, gathering insights from the UX researcher, and leading workshops with stakeholders to align on the direction. I usually visualize my thinking quickly to have a conversation. This allows for rapid iteration and ensures that designs balance user needs with business objectives and technical feasibility.

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Designing & Prototyping

When designing, I iterated rapidly and conducted an analysis of alternatives to influence project direction and navigate technical challenges. I started to think above and beyond to explore user needs, then converged to balance between ideal and feasible solutions.

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Storytelling & Communication

To showcase the results and submit for leadership approval, I presented the process in a deck with a strong narrative, including who the user is, what the problem is, why my solution matters, and showing the tradeoffs behind the solution. I improved my storytelling by constantly asking for feedback, and I learned a lot of skills on how to present my thinking through a slide.

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Expanding Network

I had a coffee chat with more than 50 Googlers within my 13 weeks, where I got more familiar with the product, built trust, and learned insightful lessons from diverse perspectives. Taking initiatives to have a conversation and expanding my network is one of the most valuable skills I learned at Google.

Crystal Wang

UX Designer @ Google (Intern Co-Host)

It was a pleasure to host Joan for her summer internship on the Google Chrome team. She was an exceptional contributor from day one—proactive, collaborative, and highly detail-oriented. Joan has a rare ability to grasp complex technical concepts quickly and operate with remarkable efficiency.

During her internship, she expertly demonstrated her comprehensive skills in interaction, motion, and visual design. Joan has my highest recommendation, and I'm confident she would be a valuable asset to any team she joins. I can only wish to work with her more again in the future!

Maxime Martin

Product Manager @ Google

I highly recommend working with Joan! As a Product Manager, I had the pleasure of seeing her in action, and she was a huge asset to our team.

Joan was proactive in collaborating with me to pinpoint project requirements, and her thoughtful questions were instrumental in defining the core problems we needed to solve, ensuring her work always met both business objectives and user needs. She also took the initiative to run a crucial UX workshop with both the Product and Engineering teams, a step that was key to keeping our project on track. Her talent for communicating her user-centered design choices with absolute clarity was a game-changer. Any team would be lucky to have her.

Anuj Goyal

Product Manager @ Google

I would strongly recommend Joan! During her internship, Joan was an invaluable member of our team, consistently producing work of exceptional quality for our website.

She possesses strong visual design skills, a great understanding of user experience principles, and was able to rapidly build an UX deck so that I could have detailed conversations with our eng team.  Joan worked with me to clarify project requirements, define problems, and explore potential solutions - this ensured her work was always aligned with my business goals as well as user needs. Furthermore, she consistently delivered her work with remarkable speed and efficiency without sacrificing quality. Her ability to quickly turn around high-quality work made a significant impact on our team's productivity. She would be a tremendous asset to any organization!

“Don’t just be a designer, be a collaborator.”

My manager gave me the advice on my first week. I spent my internship learning and practicing being as a collaborator. For example, I clarified product requirement with my PMs to pinpoint the project’s direction, and I took initiative to run workshops with stakeholders.
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The process really helps me see the power of being beyond designer and I found this is the journey I’d like to keep exploring.