A blog by Tanisha Banik about her three-week work experience.
As an international MA Design Management student, this is my first work experience in the UK. I am very grateful to Lagom for providing me with this opportunity.
Even though adjusting to a new work environment in a foreign country might seem overwhelming, this internship was most certainly a humbling experience. Everyone was very welcoming. They each made a conscious effort to make me feel comfortable and as part of their team. With daily stand-up sessions – they ensured that I understood my role and responsibilities without any hassle.
I had the opportunity to have one-on-one conversations with every member of the Lagom team. Through these sessions, I got an in-depth understanding of what it is like to be a user researcher.
I also observed that Lagom follows a purpose-driven culture where everyone has a shared ideal that values the impact of their collective work over individual achievements.
In order to efficiently manage their projects, Lagom operates a functional model wherein they prioritise the needs of the task at hand and every member has a clear understanding of their individual responsibilities.
I had the chance to observe their end-to-end process, actively participating in user interviews and co-design workshops as well as being invited to observe their show-and-tells and project handover sessions with clients. I also learned more about how Lagom use quantitative methods to validate their findings and being able to use this to present qualitative researched evidenced with statistical data.
Apart from all these valuable learnings, my most interesting takeaway from this internship came from Lagom’s retrospective sessions. The Lagomers have a very interesting and efficient practice to reflect on their past projects and learn from those experiences. I would like to carry this forward and adopt it into my own work ethic.
Despite working only for three weeks, I already feel invested and part of this amazing team. My heartfelt thanks to everyone for taking their time out to hear, accept and appreciate my input (even when they felt irrelevant to me at times!).
I definitely feel more confident to become a part of this industry now.
