ROLE
Sole Product Design Intern
TEAM
1 Manager
2 Producers
5 Designers
3 Engineers
TIMELINE
May - Aug 2025
SKILLS
UXR & Testing
Accessibility
Product Thinking & Design
Design Systems
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Stakeholder Communication
TOOLS
Sketch
Photoshop
Illustrator
Apple PD&M Tools
OVERVIEW
How might I help streamline cross-platform innovation and media experiences across Apple Services teams?
During my internship at Apple, I worked with the Product Media Design team to deliver designs, specifications, and tools that ensure media and artwork are presented beautifully across Apple Services—including Music, TV, Podcasts, Books, App Store, Arcade, and Fitness. As the sole intern on the team, I had the opportunity to closely collaborate with engineers, designers, producers, QA analysts, and managers across multiple services. This experience not only refined my communication and presentation skills but also allowed me to contribute meaningfully to projects that support the consistency and quality of Apple’s media experiences at scale. While the specifics of my work are under NDA, my main contributions involved:
Designing a scalable internal tool to centralize media and UI data specifications for iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, watchOS, visionOS across all Apple Services, reducing ambiguity while increasing accuracy and efficiency of cross-platform handoff
Creating media specifications to define how artwork appears for two new Apple products involving App Store, Apple TV, and Vision Pro
Innovating an automated template system to help Apple designers easily create design mockup visualizations
Ideating and designing visual branding and iconography for multiple Apple media tools
At the end of my internship, I had the opportunity to present my work to Josiah Slifer, Director of Apple Services Product Design & Marketing, along with senior design managers across teams including Common UI, Accessibility, Internal Tools, and Partner Tools. It was an incredibly rewarding experience to share my work and connect with such knowledgeable leaders driving impactful design at Apple.
REFLECTION
Clear communication drives trust and momentum.
As the only intern on the team, I saw firsthand how much impact clear, consistent communication can have. Through regular check-ins, open documentation, and thoughtful sharing of my work, I was able to build credibility, surface roadblocks early, and stay aligned with teammates across multiple services.
Scalable design starts with covering the edges.
Working on both internal tools and user-facing Apple media showed me how thoughtful systems lay the foundation for both functional and beautiful user experiences. By designing with edge cases in mind—across content types, formats, and services—I helped streamline implementation and contributed to more polished, reliable global media experiences at scale.
Design isn't done until it's delivered.
Specs and prototypes are only the beginning. I gained firsthand experience in QA and design implementation cycles, ensuring my work translated faithfully from sketches to final product. This taught me to think beyond visuals, adapt to unexpected changes, and understand the often complex production pipeline.
