Tesla internship
Enhancing the company's global employee experience.
Project overview
I was part of the Employee Experience design team in Fremont, CA, where I worked on enterprise applications and contributed to their design system, impacting over 140,000 global employees.
Each project offered unique challenges, and I was able to work across different teams to create meaningful impact. Tesla taught me to adapt quickly, collaborate effectively, and drive meaningful design outcomes, even in a fast-paced, high-stakes environment.
Timeline
3 months (May-Aug 2023)
Role
UX Designer
Team
Employee Experience Design
Tools
Figma
Platform
Web apps
Design system
Status
Shipped & live
Key projects
During my internship, I worked on 3 enterprise applications and designed multiple components for Tesla's internal and consumer-facing design systems.
Across all projects, collaboration was key. I conducted team-level reviews to gather feedback from my immediate team and manager and participated in enterprise team reviews, presenting to a broader group of designers, managers, and the design director. I also held regular meetings with product owners and developers to align on objectives and technical feasibility, ensuring smooth implementation across projects.
translate
Tesla's translation platform
Owned the end-to-end redesign of Tesla’s content localization platform, resulting in a 15% increase in regional market engagement and ~40% reduction in turnaround time for localized content.
forum
AI-powered HR chat assistant
Conducted extensive primary UX research and led the design of an AI-powered chat assistant for Giga Berlin employees, aiming to reduce HR ticket volume by automating routine inquiries and enabling HR staff to focus on complex issues.
category
Design system components
Collaborated cross-functionally with staff product designers and engineers to design and integrate new components into Tesla’s enterprise and consumer-facing design systems, enhancing design consistency and efficiency while securing buy-in from design leadership.
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E-sign flows for employee health & safety
Redesigned the e-sign flow for employee health & safety, improving regulatory compliance and achieving a ~20% reduction in processing time.
Note: Due to confidentiality agreements, I am unable to share specific details about my work. I'm happy to get on a call and talk more!
Impact
Kind words from my teammates and managers.
Ritwik joined our team as a summer intern in 2023. When he first joined, he ramped up quickly and started to support multiple projects. Ritwik contributed to our design system by proposing new components with detailed documentation. He demonstrated research and design skills working on the next gen search experience for our internal software. He iterated multiple times in a short period of time and came up with a good proposal. He also made good progress on other projects while collaborating with other designers and PMs.
During design reviews, he actively gave constructive feedback to others, which was helpful to all of us. When he received feedback on design, he quickly explored different options and made iterations.
He is a talented and passionate designer with a curious mind. He was always proactive in all his projects and tried to go above and beyond. I really enjoyed working with him.
Gyuri Han
Senior UX Designer (Teammate)
When I interviewed Ritwik for the UX intern position on our team, I knew right then that he was a top contender. During his internship at Tesla, Ritwik juggled multiple projects and worked with multi-disciplinary team members. He had great attention to detail and was able to learn fast. Ritwik is strong in both user research and designing with challenging constraints. He welcomed feedback and was always proactive in helping out other designers with their projects. I would recommend Ritwik to any team!
Lixin Wang
Senior UX Designer (Teammate)
Ritwik was our UX designer during summer ’23 working on a revamp of our Translation Pipeline application. He pushed product and devs to rethink the tool, he quickly understood the complexities of the translation process, and asked users relevant questions. He was proactive in scheduling meetings while considerate of the time zone differences. The amount of progress he made every day was impressive. And last but not least: the designs look fantastic!
Wijnand Rijkenberg
Senior Localization Manager (Product Manager)
Learnings
Although brief, my time at Tesla taught me a lot. It played a crucial role in shaping my design philosophy and ideals.
Each project offered unique challenges, and I was able to work across different teams to create meaningful impact. Tesla taught me to adapt quickly, collaborate effectively, and drive meaningful design outcomes, even in a fast-paced, high-stakes environment.
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Prioritizing progress over perfection
I’ve learned that perfectionism isn't realistic. Working in a fast-paced environment has taught me it's okay to share work that isn’t polished at first. What’s important is to make progress and get things started.
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The art of constructive critisism
Tesla's highly iterative design process included many critique sessions with different teams. Participating in these sessions taught me how to properly give and receive feedback.
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Design planning
I learned to use Figma components and variables for organizing my design framework more efficiently. Working on several start-to-finish projects also improved my time and task management skills.
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Embracing change
Change is a constant, especially at a dynamic company like Tesla. Projects often changed direction, scope, or were even paused. This taught me to swiftly switch contexts and adapt to unexpected situations.
Let's connect!