Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute 

Created developer tools that strengthen Responsible AI (RAI) throughout the AI product lifecycle — from data collection to model training to deployment.

Role

Product Designer

Timeline

May to August 2023

Team

1 Sr. UX Scientist, 3 Product Designers

Tools/Skills

Adobe XD, MURAL, A/B Testing, IxD

SUMMARY

How might we ensure AI is responsible in every step of model development?

I worked at Carnegie Mellon’s Software Engineering Insititute as a Human-Centered AI Research Intern, where I was a product designer for a developer tool that brings responsible AI to the forefront of development. As the sole design intern on the team, I was given equal tasks as an associate designer staffed on a project, and contributed full efforts across research, ideation, and design.

While this work is subject to NDA, my main contributions included:

  1. Conducting card sorts and synthesizing user interviews to uncover key insights and pain points.

  2. Revamping the entire information architecture to simplify navigation and align with developer workflows.

  3. Tackling the UI design of the tool’s core features and conducting usability tests with target users.

What others had to say

TAKEAWAYS

Quality user research brings clarity.

Strong user research helps us more clearly design for existing mental models. It’s important to be intentional with user interview questions to best understand key insights.

Be proactive in seeking feedback.

Asking for feedback on specific elements of my designs from both stakeholders and my amazing team was the #1 thing that optimized my design process. Being active in seeking feedback aligns everyone on what goals to be working towards.

Design is a vehicle for connection.

Usability testing showed me how my designs resonated with developers—some even expressed gratitude for the product’s timeliness and ease of navigation. I saw how important design can be to make people feel heard and improve their lives.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

As a NY native, I relocated to PA for this role. Here are some of the things I enjoyed during my time there:

The satisfying feeling of completing my final internship presentation

Exploring so many new restaurants with my co-workers

Hiking miles in PA’s beautiful nature — I really loved the greenery 🌱

Free concerts near my apartment all the time!

Thank you to all of the mentors who have supported me throughout my time at the SEI! To learn more about my design process, please reach out to me at bl628@cornell.edu.