Paid Summer 2021 Internship, Product Design

Applications Due January 25, 2021

Please include a link to your portfolio (with password if needed) and a cover letter answering the prompt below. Applications without a portfolio and cover letter will not be considered.

Tell us about a project that you are most proud of where you solved a user problem. What was the process like? How did you come to the decisions that you made? Use 250 words as a guide for length, but keep in mind the most important goal is to help us understand your approach. 

To Apply and Find Out More Visit

About Product Design Internships

Like our Product Designers, Product Design interns will get to work on projects that have a real, tangible impact on our readers, subscribers and internal teams like the newsroom. In these roles, interns will be embedded on a team of designers, editors, researchers, engineers, and/or product managers and contribute to the work of their assigned teams. You’ll have strong mentorship and support from our Product Design team over the course of 10 weeks, and you’ll come away with a better sense of the practice and craft of Product Design and how it functions in a real world setting.

In the past, we’ve had interns work on projects like:

  • Co-designing a new data-visualization dashboard that translates reader engagement with our homepage into insights for newsroom editors

  • Creating and testing a series of messages that show appreciation for our subscribers to reinforce the idea that The Times is worth paying for

  • Collaborating with a team of game makers, engineers and data analysts to design and test a functional game prototype

  • Designing the dark mode experience of a product

 

As a product design intern, you will:

  • Pair with a designer within their assigned team who will help you get oriented to our collaborative design process and guide you throughout your 10 weeks here.

  • Learn about the importance of doing research to understand our users so that we can identify opportunities to better meet their needs.

  • Help us do research by looking at our competitors, documenting your findings, and sharing your insights with the team.

  • Depending on the project phase, participate in qualitative research by attending user research sessions and contributing insights. With guidance, explore design solutions that respond to those insights.  

  • Have opportunities to present your work to small groups and give and receive feedback.

  • Learn about the importance of understanding business and technical constraints and how these factors might affect or change your designs.

  • Have a chance to iterate on your designs to incorporate feedback.

  • Learn about the process of implementing a design in code, and you’ll apply that knowledge by helping review the implemented experiences to ensure the quality of the design.

  • Learn about working with product managers to design strategically toward business goals.

  • Learn how to work creatively within established design and brand constraints.

 

About You

  • You are passionate about designing compelling user experiences.

  • You’re a rising junior, rising senior or a recent 2020 grad with bootcamp experience relevant to product design.

  • You’re familiar with the UX design process. You know that user research informs solutions.

  • You’re familiar with making interactive digital prototypes. It doesn’t matter if it’s desktop/mobile/apps, but preferably high fidelity (it’s a close simulation to what a user would interact with).

  • You demonstrate strong visual design skills; you know the basics of how to use typography, layout and color in order to communicate clearly and concisely.

  • You can explain the rationale behind your designs.

  • You’re a curious person — you continually seek out additional knowledge and viewpoints.

  • You’re a great communicator — both verbal and written.

  • You have an enthusiasm for The New York Times and its products/experiences.

 

Deadline: January 25th, 2021

Application and Cover Letter Prompt

Please include a link to your portfolio (with password if needed) and a cover letter answering the prompt below. Applications without a portfolio and cover letter will not be considered.

Tell us about a project that you are most proud of where you solved a user problem. What was the process like? How did you come to the decisions that you made? Use 250 words as a guide for length, but keep in mind the most important goal is to help us understand your approach.

 

About Our Summer Internships

  • Our internships are paid.

  • It is 10 weeks long, starting on or around June 1, 2021.

  • Interns work 35 hours per week.

 

Benefits and Perks:

  • Interning at The New York Times is a unique opportunity to work at a historic and innovative global media organization dedicated to enhancing society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news and information.

  • You will be helping to power, distribute and expand what is possible for our award-winning journalism.

  • We run a week-long maker event during the summer, where Design, Product, Project, Marketing and Technology come together. to work on creative, cross-functional projects.

  • We have frequent panel discussions and talks by a wide variety of news makers and industry leaders.

  • NYT interns benefit from competitive pay, great perks and influential networking.