Our 2020 internships have come to an end. Lara Zaki and Maura Bellio reflect on their experience working with us. Keep reading to find out more about their time working remotely as a user researcher and clinical researcher respectively.
Why did you choose to do an internship at Ctrl Group?
LZ: “I had already been following the work at Ctrl Group for a few years. As a cognitive neuroscience student, the Cognition Kit project really caught my attention. I appreciated the way that Ctrl Group was improving upon the quantity and ecological validity of cognitive data with remote monitoring, but without sacrificing precision and clinical efficacy.
I also loved that Ctrl Group works towards supporting personalised medicine and empowering patients to be more active in their healthcare. I believe in using digital health to improve accessibility, transparency, and efficiency of healthcare, and was keen to learn how to translate patient and clinician experiences into a product that achieves this. One of my main interests is in applying digital health to smoothen the integration of clinical research and practice, so I was also really excited by Ctrl Group’s engagement in both.
I also appreciated that Ctrl Group interns work on their own project that suits their interests, while still getting to collaborate with all members of the team. This meant I would not only get a better understanding of what working in healthtech is like, and what role I could best thrive in, but would also get to learn by doing and make an impact at the company.”
MB: “I was near the end of my PhD and looking to get professional experience in healthtech, as a potential next step in my career. One of the projects at Ctrl Group was aligned with my expertise, the skills that I wanted to develop further, and my research that I felt it was a great opportunity for me.”
What did you enjoy most about your internship?
LZ: “I really enjoyed the opportunities to present my research and ideas to the team. It was exciting to be able to share my work with everyone, but it was especially rewarding to see that work translated into ideas from the design and development team. It was challenging and interesting for me to work on applying my work in desk and user research to potential product improvements, and I really appreciated the platform to practice this. I felt that even as an intern, I was given ample responsibility to contribute and my ideas were taken seriously.”
MB: “I really enjoyed the solid teamwork and the brainstorming sessions. The project I worked on was very challenging conceptually, but there has been a lot of progress, iterations, and feedback throughout. One of the most helpful parts was having regular check-ins with my project supervisor, to discuss the progress of our work and make sure I always had a clear understanding of my tasks.”
What did you find most challenging?
LZ: “I think the most challenging part of this internship can be attributed to the situation we were all in - working from home. It is difficult to start a new position, be trained in new skills and get accustomed to a new work environment without meeting everyone in person. However I think my supervisors did a great job in making sure I had the support I needed.”
MB: “The only challenging part was to be all working remotely in the current situation. I think the internship is also a way to understand how the dynamics in the proper workplace are, and to connect to other people in the same field. However, this is another opportunity to highlight how the team is very supportive and has faced this situation in a brilliant way, as this did not present a blocker in any ways to my experience of growing and putting my knowledge into practice.”
What skills did you develop during your time?
LZ: “I developed a lot of skills in user research. Ctrl Group performs rigorous and conscientious qualitative research and I learned not only technical skills in analyzing qualitative data but also developed my ability to interpret and communicate insights gathered from this type of analysis. I definitely improved my presentation skills as well. Frequent opportunities to present helped me learn to prepare efficiently and feel more confident. Finally, I learned a lot about interdisciplinary collaboration in practice, since researchers, designers, and developers all work together regularly.”
MB: “I have learnt a lot during these three months. Overall, I have learnt to be a substantial part of a very fast-paced workflow, where ideas can change quickly and where you need to be flexible in picking up the tasks as they come up. From a methodological perspective, I have consolidated the methods that I previously used and got familiar with new ones. In fact, Ctrl Group has a very solid and research driven UX culture, which made me feel confident with the skills I was acquiring. Also, I had the opportunity to present a few Journal Club and Throwback Thursday sessions, which gave me the chance to expand my domain knowledge and presentation skills.”
What is your advice for others looking to get experience in healthtech?
LZ: “I think interning is a great way to go. Before this internship, I knew I was passionate about contributing to healthcare, and I knew I believed in the role digital health would play in changing healthcare for the better. What I didn’t know was how exactly I could best contribute – what role I would thrive in and how I could make the most impact with my knowledge and experience. Interning helped me discover what I am good at, what I enjoy, and where my skills are needed. Before interning, research developments in healthtech to find out what is the most exciting to you, and then find opportunities to discover what that work actually looks like day-to-day.”
MB: “If your goal is to get experience in healthtech, I would suggest joining a team working in this space. Whatever your role is (software developer, researcher, designer, …), challenges in healthcare are unique to this sector and are countless. So the best way is really to immerse yourself in one of these challenges and hopefully you will work with a team that can make you grow in the right direction. It might take more time and research to get it right, but it’s a very rewarding area!”
Lara has since joined our team as a User Researcher and Maura is our Clinical UX Designer. We are currently