Summer Experience Designer - 2025 Master’s Internship
IA CollaborativeApplications for this position will be accepted until March 30th, 2025 at 11:59 p.m.; candidates should expect to hear back by the end of March regarding interviews.
All applicants must provide either a PDF attachment or URL with portfolio or work samples.
Summer Experience Design Intern
IA Collaborative is seeking a Summer Experience Designer to join our team during Summer 2025 for a 10-week immersive experience in the world of innovation where you’ll work on real client projects alongside our multidisciplinary teams.
As a Summer Experience Designer you will:
Participate in both evaluative and exploratory, contextual research where you will live design problems and uncover insights to solve them. This may include assisting with research and stimuli design, going into the field, and synthesizing observations.
Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to translate research insights and design directives into tangible user experiences. This may include brainstorming concepts, sketching, wireframing and creating other systematic artifacts. You’ll also assist in the crafting of client presentations
Develop prototypes of varying levels of functionality and fidelity for projects or validation research.
Perform additional job duties as assigned (may require travel for consecutive days, if necessary and with respect to current CDC health guidelines)
Know the Business of the Business: Act as a steward of IA Collaborative’s overall business by exploring future possibilities for the organization including new offerings and capabilities, talent acquisition, thought leadership, and other business growth-oriented activities.
Required qualifications include:
Education: currently in junior or senior year in a program with a concentration in Design, Human-Computer Interaction, Product Design, or equivalent experience.
Work experience: one internship or equivalent work opportunity where you had experience conducting user research, participating in stakeholder interviews, creating journey maps, ideating concepts, and designing solutions through wire frames, user flows, and information architecture.
Ability to work with teams to translate opportunities into defined user experiences and digital interfaces; adept at designing and prototyping digital interfaces and interactions.
Possess the ability to think conceptually about products and services, constantly exploring new and differentiated ways to design for users.
Comfort working in cross-functional teams and working on ambiguous problems.
Exceptional written and oral communication skills.
Clear interest in design and user-centered design philosophy.
Ability to participate in activities as needed in-office at our Chicago HQ for the duration of the internship
Preferred qualifications include:
Master’s-level candidate strongly preferred
Ability to travel consecutive days, if necessary and with respect to current CDC health guidelines
In the application or as part of the hiring process, candidates may be asked to submit work samples. These should be anonymized as needed to protect current employer and/or client confidentiality agreements.
We expect that the 2025 summer internship program will take place between ~6/9/25 - 8/15/25. Availability will be confirmed with candidates prior to finalizing program details and schedule. Want to learn more about the renowned summer internship experience at IA Collaborative? Hear firsthand from recent interns.
About the Experience Design Team
Experience designers at IA Collaborative create experiences for people through their engagement with products, services, and platforms. Employing our user-driven design approach, we translate insights and strategy into tangible experiences that meet business objectives and delight users. As digital innovators, we thrive on an iterative design process and explore emerging platforms and novel applications; as digital leaders, we guide organizations through transformation.
Our team thrives in a fast-paced, challenging, multidisciplinary and highly collaborative environment. We welcome new tools and processes, diverse perspectives and backgrounds, and challenges that demand unconventional thinking to push the boundaries of our discipline.
Why IA Collaborative
At IA, you’ll practice your craft in a whole new context. You’ll be a part of designing the future of human experience as you transform your client’s business, empower communities and create a positive and lasting impact on the world.
Our internationally recognized workspace provides the inspiration and flexibility to collaborate with teams or to focus as an individual.
IA Collaborative Work Model:
IA Collaborative leverages a hybrid work model with Chicagoland-area team members working from our downtown headquarters three days per week (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) with additional, occasional required on-site days as needed.
Occasional onsite and in-field work is required for all team members. We are typically in the field once or twice a month, for two to three consecutive days, conducting research or meeting with clients. We are committed to following CDC guidelines to ensure safety and well-being for our team members.
IA Collaborative will provide a stipend for relocation to Chicago if needed during the Summer Internship program dates.
About IA Collaborative
IA Collaborative is a global design and innovation consultancy. We help leading organizations and category disruptors find new growth, create new offerings, and empower a culture of innovation. We fully integrate human-centered design and business strategy into the ongoing operations of our clients, to launch new corporate ventures and drive continuous innovation. From Insight to Action, we define new business models and create new products, technology platforms, experiences, brands, services and environments.
IA is on the national and global stage speaking about the business value of design. Featured by Fast Company as one of the country’s preeminent design thinkers and nominated by the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum as a “Design Visionary,” IA’s leadership and work has been profiled by prominent business publications and has received multiple design accolades, including Best Design North America and Best UX Design in Fast Company’s Innovation by Design Awards; the SXSW Business Design Award; and multiple honors in the Red Dot International, International Design Excellence Awards (IDSA), the GOOD DESIGN Awards, and the iF World Design Awards. IA Collaborative works with the world’s most successful brands, including FedEx, Allstate, Airbnb, Fidelity, Apple, Johnson & Johnson, Nike, Lilly, and Audi.
At IA Collaborative, we are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. We believe that welcoming a diverse variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills to our organization contributes to a thriving culture, a vibrant community, and breakthrough work. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristics protected by federal, state, or local law.
For more information about IA Collaborative visit iacollaborative.com, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Glassdoor.
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