Future of Work
Helping employees adapt to remote work through meaningful connections.
Duration
3 months
Role
UX Research Intern
Tools
Figma, Miro, Survey tools
The Challenge
Summer 2020. The world had just shifted to remote work, and organizations were struggling to maintain culture and connection. Optum's innovation team asked: how might we help employees thrive in this new reality?
My internship project explored the future of work — specifically, how to combat isolation and help people build meaningful connections when they can't be in the same room.
3
Months
40+
Interviews
1
Validated concept
Double Diamond Process
Discover Started broad — interviewed employees across roles about their remote work struggles. Loneliness and lack of spontaneous interaction emerged as dominant themes. The "water cooler moments" were gone.
Define Synthesized findings into opportunity areas. The core insight: people missed serendipitous connections — the random hallway chat that sparks an idea or friendship. Scheduled video calls couldn't replicate this.
Develop Explored multiple concepts: virtual office spaces, random coffee matching, interest-based communities. Prototyped and tested with users.
Deliver Landed on an interest-based connection platform — matching employees for casual conversations based on shared hobbies, not just work topics. Low-pressure, opt-in, focused on human connection over productivity.
The Solution
The final concept was a connection app that matched employees based on interests outside work:
Interest Profiles — Users indicate hobbies, topics they'd like to discuss, or skills they'd like to learn
Smart Matching — Algorithm pairs people with complementary interests across departments
Low-Pressure Format — 15-minute optional video chats, no agenda required
Discovery Feed — Browse colleagues' interests, find unexpected common ground
The goal wasn't another meeting — it was recreating the serendipity of bumping into someone interesting in the break room.
The Connection Platform
Home & Matches
The home screen surfaces the day's top match with a personalised prompt — not just a name, but a reason to connect. Inspired by the serendipity of hallway run-ins that remote work had eliminated.
Match percentage is calculated from shared interests, not work role, keeping connections human.
Interest Profile
Users build a profile around hobbies and human interests, separate from their professional profile in Workday. Skills to share and topics to learn create reciprocal connections.
Low friction to set up — a grid of icons rather than a form to fill in.
Match Detail
Before connecting, users can see exactly what they have in common — visually, not as a list. Shared interests shown as cards reduce the awkwardness of a cold intro.
The 15-minute "no agenda" format lowers the barrier; it's a chat, not a meeting.
Scheduling
Scheduling stays inside the app — no calendar invite dance. Available slots from both parties are surfaced directly, with a single tap to confirm.
Format choice (15 or 30 min) signals intent, helping both parties show up prepared.
My Connections
Upcoming connections show context — the shared interest that sparked each match — so conversations start naturally rather than with "so… what do you do?".
Past connections with ratings helped surface the best connector types during user testing.
Discover
Browse the company by interest rather than org chart. Finding that 47 colleagues love travel or 34 are into coffee makes the organisation feel smaller and more human.
Tested as the highest-engagement screen — users spent more time here than anywhere else in the prototype.
3 new matches waiting
Today's Connection
Priya Mehta
You both love photography & hiking
People you might click with
Priya M.
Data Science92%
match
James T.
Engineering78%
match
Sara L.
Product85%
match
Your Interest Profile
Alex Simmons
UX Designer · Chicago, IL
"Happy to chat about design, hiking, or obscure coffee brews"
Interests & Hobbies
Skills I can share
Want to learn
Priya Mehta
Senior Data Scientist · Chicago, IL
You both love
About Priya
"I spend my weekends hiking forest preserves and hunting for good pour-over spots. Always happy to chat about data storytelling or swap trail recommendations."
Connection format
15-min chat
Quick catch-up
30-min chat
Deeper dive
Schedule a chat with Priya
15 minutes · No agenda needed
Priya Mehta
You both love photography & hiking
Pick a time
Week of Apr 14Selected
Monday 14 Apr · 10:30
15-minute video chat · No agenda
Priya M.
15minPhotography & hiking trails
Mon 10:30
James T.
15minGuitar + building side projects
Wed 14:00
Sara L.
30minUX research methods
Fri 11:00
Recent Past
David K. · 10 Apr
Amazing chat about film photography
Mei C. · 8 Apr
Shared great trail recommendations
Browse by interest
New to the platform
Carlos R. · Design
Yuna K. · Finance
Tom B. · HR
Home & Matches
The home screen surfaces the day's top match with a personalised prompt — not just a name, but a reason to connect. Inspired by the serendipity of hallway run-ins that remote work had eliminated.
Match percentage is calculated from shared interests, not work role, keeping connections human.
3 new matches waiting
Today's Connection
Priya Mehta
You both love photography & hiking
People you might click with
Priya M.
Data Science92%
match
James T.
Engineering78%
match
Sara L.
Product85%
match
Interest Profile
Users build a profile around hobbies and human interests, separate from their professional profile in Workday. Skills to share and topics to learn create reciprocal connections.
Low friction to set up — a grid of icons rather than a form to fill in.
Your Interest Profile
Alex Simmons
UX Designer · Chicago, IL
"Happy to chat about design, hiking, or obscure coffee brews"
Interests & Hobbies
Skills I can share
Want to learn
Match Detail
Before connecting, users can see exactly what they have in common — visually, not as a list. Shared interests shown as cards reduce the awkwardness of a cold intro.
The 15-minute "no agenda" format lowers the barrier; it's a chat, not a meeting.
Priya Mehta
Senior Data Scientist · Chicago, IL
You both love
About Priya
"I spend my weekends hiking forest preserves and hunting for good pour-over spots. Always happy to chat about data storytelling or swap trail recommendations."
Connection format
15-min chat
Quick catch-up
30-min chat
Deeper dive
Scheduling
Scheduling stays inside the app — no calendar invite dance. Available slots from both parties are surfaced directly, with a single tap to confirm.
Format choice (15 or 30 min) signals intent, helping both parties show up prepared.
Schedule a chat with Priya
15 minutes · No agenda needed
Priya Mehta
You both love photography & hiking
Pick a time
Week of Apr 14Selected
Monday 14 Apr · 10:30
15-minute video chat · No agenda
My Connections
Upcoming connections show context — the shared interest that sparked each match — so conversations start naturally rather than with "so… what do you do?".
Past connections with ratings helped surface the best connector types during user testing.
Priya M.
15minPhotography & hiking trails
Mon 10:30
James T.
15minGuitar + building side projects
Wed 14:00
Sara L.
30minUX research methods
Fri 11:00
Recent Past
David K. · 10 Apr
Amazing chat about film photography
Mei C. · 8 Apr
Shared great trail recommendations
Discover
Browse the company by interest rather than org chart. Finding that 47 colleagues love travel or 34 are into coffee makes the organisation feel smaller and more human.
Tested as the highest-engagement screen — users spent more time here than anywhere else in the prototype.
Browse by interest
New to the platform
Carlos R. · Design
Yuna K. · Finance
Tom B. · HR
Outcome
Presented the validated concept to Optum leadership at the end of the internship.
What I delivered: • Comprehensive research synthesis from 40+ interviews • Journey maps of remote employee experience • Multiple concept prototypes • Final high-fidelity prototype of connection app • Presentation to stakeholders
What I learned: Research internships teach you to sit with ambiguity. The hardest part wasn't designing the solution — it was resisting the urge to jump to solutions before truly understanding the problem.