Summer 2025 Internship
Turning complex salary data into actionable insights
Role
Product Designer
Team
4 Designers
2 Devs
2 Product
skills
User Research
Visual Design
Prototyping
Timeline
May - August 2025
Solution Preview
A salary benchmarking tool that delivers clear, comprehensive market insights for any role
Research
By gathering feedback directly from users, we surfaced core use cases and pain points
We gathered over 40 feedback requests and I organized them into an affinity map to identify key takeaways. We also conducted a competitive analysis to understand how other platforms approached salary benchmarking. Additionally, our team interviewed five participants and created decision point models and journey maps to uncover user pain points. Here are our key insights.
Salary benchmarking isn't a one-time task
Users need to repeatedly access compensation data throughout their workflows.
Tailoring data to every job role
Users need reliable compensation data that reflects all job levels and markets across their organization.
Power users vs. casual users
Power users need advanced and detailed insights, while casual users prefer quick access to simple, high-level data.
A look into our research…
Feature Scope
While building initial features and designs, there were a multitude of viewpoints to navigate
With 10+ designers, PMs, and developers involved, there were a lot of different opinions and thoughts going into this project. Navigating between all these viewpoints taught me how to find a balance between advocating for my perspective and listening to others. Collaboration was a key skill in every step of the way.
To align the product vision with user needs, I transformed our research insights into a touchpoint model that informed feature decisions
This model organized points in different user's processes where they would require a particular function. The functions were then ordered from most to least used. This helped us identify the essential features: quick benchmarking, revisiting past benchmarks, and sharing results. It also informed how we structured the product, shaping both the user flow and information architecture.
Table organizing most needed functions based off our Decision Point Models
To unify our team’s ideas, we collaged our initial sketches
Each team member created their own low-fidelity sketch based on how they envisioned the product flow, informed by the slightly different research insights they gathered. We then came together to merge these ideas into a shared collage that captured the best elements from each concept. Our final concept consisted of an input page, where users would specify a job role, and an output page, where users could see the data regarding that role.
Initial lo-fi collages merging our teams' ideas together
Research and initial findings presentations with PMs and developers
At this stage, we prepared a presentation that consolidated our research findings and insights for our stakeholders, including PMs, developers, and others on the team. Sharing this helped us gather feedback, understand different perspectives, and ensure everyone was aligned on the direction as we moved forward.
Refining hi-fi
With many user types, the UI needed unique layouts to present data that was both detailed and easy to scan
Experienced users, such as compensation analysts, often want dense, data-rich interfaces to access in-depth details, while hiring managers and other stakeholders prefer broader, high-level information that is easier to interpret at a glance
Creating unique data visualizations to fulfill our users' needs with my technical knowledge
Through our research, we learned that median values and percentiles were critical for user decision-making. We wanted to represent percentiles with a simple line graph, but our Highcharts-only setup did not include a suitable option. I experimented directly in the code editor to explore custom visualization solutions that could support these requirements.
To ease hand-off to developers, I had to work within design system constraints and adapt our designs creatively
To present more in-depth compensation breakdowns, we explored using indented rows within our table. Since the design system didn’t support indentation, I consulted with developers and improvised by adding empty cells to simulate the effect. This achieved the desired visual hierarchy without adding extra development work.
Future Direction
Identifying integration points to drive cross-product value
While the tool is powerful on its own, its true value comes from how its insights integrate across the system. For example, alerting users when salaries fall above or below market.
Hand-off
Wrapping up by creating specs, breakpoints, and final deliverables for development hand-off
After our internship, the project moved into development. To ensure a seamless handoff, we prepared detailed documentation covering specs, breakpoints, and guidelines.
reflection
My key learnings from the internship
Special thank you to my manager, mentors, and team members who made this project possible!
Ensuring early stakeholder involvement = smoother outcomes
Without early involvement, stakeholders are less aligned, making buy-in harder to achieve
Real-world projects come with real-world limitations
Constraints are inevitable; clear priorities keep you on track
Never be afraid to ask questions
Being transparent about what I didn't know was the quickest way to gain context and deliver quality work
If I had more time…
Access for different users
Different types of users have different access levels to data
Handling jobs with limited data
Combining multiple jobs to give users an idea of a representative salary for unique roles
