This summer, we’ll be featuring our Lyft interns and learning more about their experiences and how they decided to choose Lyft as a place to work, grow, and learn.
Meet Lena Huang (she/her) who is currently a Design Intern on the Rider team. Lena shares advice on how to land an internship at Lyft and her favorite parts of interning for the Design team.
What did your journey to Lyft look like?
Growing up, I always had a multitude of interests: creative storytelling, branding, entrepreneurship, and of course, pushing pixels and visual design. Early on in college, I stumbled upon product/user-experience design, and quickly found it to be a culmination of everything that I held dear - amplifying user stories through compelling visual journeys.
I see product design as an ever-evolving puzzle: transcending just aesthetics, it’s about striking that dynamic balance between user needs, business requirements and market relevance, using design thinking and innovation as a means of problem solving and creating everyday experiences that uplift, connect and delight.
As a double-major in Communications and Cognitive Science, I don’t really come from a ‘traditional’ design background - most of my design skills and knowledge come from clubs or self-guided learning on the side. Going into my junior year, I knew I wanted to land a design internship at a larger company, and have the opportunity to learn experientially in a more structured environment, while gaining mentorship from more experienced designers.
During my search, I stumbled upon a Linkedin post from a Lyft recruiter (shoutout to Vivian!) highlighting the design internship and quickly submitted my resume/portfolio. Early November, I did a recruiter screening, followed by an initial portfolio walkthrough in December and a final round interview in January, involving a case study presentation, behavioral questions and a whiteboard exercise. Two weeks later, I received my internship offer - and now we’re here!
Fun fact: what’s especially cool and meaningful is that I’ve gotten to meet, and even work with some of the team members that were involved in my recruiting process. It’s really come full circle!
What has been your favorite part of your internship experience?
Prior to signing my offer, I had the opportunity to talk to different Lyft team members, and learn more about the company day-to-day. What really sealed the deal for me was how community-based Lyft seemed to be, and I’ve definitely been able to see that since Day 1. My favorite part of Lyft culture is how you can just ‘grab a spot’ on anyone’s calendar for a quick chat, either just to talk about their work, get progress feedback, or jam together on an idea you’re exploring. It’s incredible how much a simple conversation can give me new insight, help inspire new ideas, clarify my thought processes (the amount of times I’ve hit a moment of ‘enlightenment’ or gotten unstuck after a coffee chat!!), and I genuinely appreciate how willing the rest of the team is to invest in my learning and growth experience.
Outside of work - getting to be in my favorite city for the summer and stare out at the ocean everyday ;)
What made you choose Lyft for an internship opportunity over other companies?
Right off the bat — Lyft’s approach to design being its ‘secret sauce’. Traditionally, design can often be seen as an ‘afterthought’, often prioritized behind things like technical constraints and business agendas. However, successful ideas require a strategic dance between all these elements - after all, without user understanding and intentionality, experiences often stop at a functional level, but fail to meet users where they’re at.
As an early-career designer and creative, it was incredibly important to me that I set the tone for the future trajectory of my career, and start in a workplace environment where my creative opinions are heard and valued. When exploring different internship opportunities, Lyft’s emphasis on design having an equal place at the table in company conversations really stood out to me, and is something I continue to value strongly.
Most of all, I admire Lyft’s profound commitment to community - something I had heard about, but have come to visualize even through my short time at the company. The way that our team advocates for rider and driver experience, and uplifts communities and specific users really position the company beyond a transportation service and as a catalyst for communal impact. I’m excited to get to learn and grow in a community that encourages both my personal and professional growth, and merges my passion and work!
Do you have any advice for students hoping to land an internship at Lyft?
Balancing recruitment and school can get tough, imposter syndrome is real, and it can feel intimidating to even apply (I’ve had my fair share of doubt in the application process, and even after starting at Lyft), but a reminder that an internship is really the prime opportunity to learn, make mistakes and grow, while getting a taste of the real world and what life as a designer looks like down the road. Regardless of the outcome, there’s so much to gain from the application process - just like design, it’s all about crafting compelling stories, critical thinking, iterating, and most of all, how to be your own biggest advocate. Give yourself some grace - you’re doing great :)
Learn more about our internship program here and check out current job openings at Lyft!