My Goal for the Summer
Going into the summer, my goal was honestly pretty simple: I just wanted to learn as much as I could. I am so early in my career that I've realized I don’t need to have all the answers; I just wanted to be there. I wanted hands-on experience actually bringing an idea to life, something tangible that didn’t just sit in a deck or doc but could make a real impact.
At Cisco, I came in like a total sponge — curious about everything. I was fascinated by how teams communicated, how ideas got shared, how a simple “what if” could turn into a full-blown product. I loved watching how everyone worked differently but somehow it all clicked together.
By the end of the summer, I realized that what really stuck with me wasn’t just what I built — it was how I learned to build with others. I started to see design not just as making something look or feel good, but as creating connection between ideas, between people, between purpose and product.
Ideation & The Pivot
Ideation
The original goal Ellen (my manager) and I set was to increase engagement with the stories and platforms developed by the global employee communications team. Initially, I proposed creating a mobile-friendly hub that would centralize all of Cisco’s internal platforms (Bridge, Webex, etc) to make it easier for employees to access and interact with stories.
Pivot
However, as I continued meeting with people across the company, both in person and virtually, my approach evolved. These conversations helped me uncover a more effective and human-centered way to not only boost engagement with existing content but also create new opportunities for people to discover stories and connect.
The Final Problem Statement
In a growing remote work environment, Cisco employees are missing more than just company updates, but they’re also missing the human connection that makes work feel meaningful. How might we create a more engaging and human-centered way for employees to connect, share stories, and feel part of the Cisco community, no matter where they work
Research & Insights
I drew insights from both behavioral research and landscape analysis to solve this problem & key findings included:
To understand how to bridge communication and culture, I studied platforms like Slack, LinkedIn, and Cisco’s own internal tools (Webex). Most emphasized efficiency: fast messaging, quick access, automation but few fostered genuine connection. This revealed a key opportunity: to design a platform that balances productivity with personality, giving employees a space that feels both professional and personal, where culture grows through shared stories, not just shared updates.
Through over 1k minutes of one-on-one conversations with employees across six teams, I discovered that connection, not information, was the real gap in Cisco’s internal communications. Employees didn’t feel a lack of access to updates; they missed authentic human moments. Many mentioned how rare it was to learn something new about a coworker unless they met in person, revealing that true engagement comes from shared personal connection, not just digital efficiency.
With 78% of employees consuming internal content primarily through mobile devices, it became clear that connection needed to meet people where they already were. A mobile-first approach meant more than responsive design, it meant creating intuitive, lightweight experiences that felt human, not corporate. The goal was to make engagement easy and natural, embedding connection into daily workflows rather than adding another tool to juggle.
Design Systems
Before I began sketching prototypes, I wanted to deepen my understanding of design systems and how they shape consistent, scalable products. During one of my 1:1 meetings, I connected with a designer who specialized in Cisco’s internal design system and became an informal mentor throughout the summer. It was my first time working hands-on with a live design system, so I spent time studying how components, tokens, and interaction patterns were structured: learning how to integrate them thoughtfully rather than just apply them. That experience helped me bridge the gap between creativity and structure, giving my prototypes both personality and cohesion.
Low-Fidelity Mockup
Cisco
Hi-Fidelity Mockup
Central Hub for Each Section
Before building out higher-fidelity prototypes, I mapped out these pages at a structural level to define hierarchy and flow. Later, my high-fidelity model became the blueprint for refining those sketches, helping me validate interactions, visual balance, and component consistency. This iterative loop between low- and high-fidelity design ensured every layout felt cohesive, functional, and grounded in real user needs.
Interactive Prototype
I developed a high-fidelity, interactive prototype that brought the final experience to life that allows users and stakeholders to explore key flows, test interactions, and visualize how connection could feel within Cisco’s culture. This stage helped me translate feedback from earlier sketches into a cohesive, functional experience grounded in real user needs.
Value Added
People First-Culture,
Boosts Employee Engagement
Makes Onboarding Smoother
