Intuit interview

The interview with Intuit went really well. Felt good about myself after a long time and then, it was so good to see how HCI academia translates into HCI corporatia :) I must admit that I was pretty scared about 4 interviews (with the director of the team, a senior UI designer, and a couple of senior user-researchers), and if that was not enough: there was also a 1 hour presentation of my projects that I had to give to the UCD team. Wow, did I apply for a CEO internship position? :)

But then, the Intuit's UCD team at San Diego made me feel totally at home. Probably never before in any interview have I been so much just-me. Perhaps thats the way of a true designer - "just be yourself". The toughest part was to bear the weight of my suit. Oh man, I hate suits, and I told them that. :)

Anyways, they seem to have liked what I had to say. They did mention that I touched upon numerous issues that they face daily through my presentation. Even I liked the feel of the HCI workplace: casual, caring, and conscientious - why will the entire team listen to a 1-hour long presentation given by a kid who doesn't even know what it is like to design in the real-world.

They were also pretty excited by the idea of voting for taking decisions and all the designerly fun we have. I do have a feeling from the conversations that they are looking for some fresh-breeze thinking in their team.

Many people ask me wouldn't it be a boring company to work for. Yeah, taxes are unanimously boring and complicated... but there exactly lies the appeal. There are lots of challenges in designing for uninteresting but important things.

It would be good fun if I were here for Summer.