A five-month contract contributing to UX and UI design within internal collaboration tools at Apple. Because these are internal, proprietary systems, I'm not able to show screens, flows or name the specific products here — that's covered by Apple's privacy policy. What follows is an honest account of my role, approach and impact, without the specifics that would identify the tools themselves.
I joined the team on a five-month contract to contribute to UX and UI design across a collection of features for an internal collaboration tool used daily by employees. The brief started with a focus on one area, which led to an entire service redesign. The five-month period afforded me the opportunity to work closely with the teams relying on these tools, understand where the experience was falling short, and raise the bar across the board.
Emerging from feedback was the need for a more personalised experience that looks and feels like an Apple product. Employees got the job done, but the experience often got in the way rather than helping.
I spent the first few weeks within the product team — sitting in on workflows, understanding systems, gathering feedback directly from the employees who used these tools daily, whilst being exposed to the entire product end-to-end. I was also given the opportunity to design and create a solution for a sought-after feature within the main product early on. This has now been released to employees globally.
I was introduced to the engineering team, working closely to establish clearer design patterns and a more consistent visual language, prioritising the changes that would have the biggest impact on day-to-day usability. Every proposal was shaped around what was realistic to ship within our engineering constraints and limited resources, without clouding creativity and future thinking.
I had a lovely time helping to redesign the service, putting together user flows, interaction patterns, and interface components. I went the extra mile to bring everything together into a modern, unified look that still feels familiar across platforms. I also worked closely with the Accessibility Centre of Excellence to check our designs along the way, finally putting together design documentation so future changes made by new designers could stay visually and behaviourally consistent.
I loosely sketched ideas digitally using an iPad and Apple Pencil. I mainly used Sketch app on Mac to create mid to high-fidelity design iterations, components and interactive prototypes.
I was afforded the opportunity to connect with, as well as proactively arranging time with key stakeholders to showcase product changes and design thinking.
By the end of my contract, the tool felt much more cohesive and a real pleasure to use. Just as importantly, design ended up in a stronger position – especially in a place where engineering usually takes centre stage. With feedback channels and documentation ready to keep things improving after I left, I'm really hopeful about what's ahead. Many aspects of my design work have now shipped within the past year.
It was a genuinely rewarding project — improving tools that Apple's own employees rely on every day, even if the details have to stay behind closed doors. It was an absolute pleasure working with the team, whom I miss dearly.
Thanks to the VP's support, I was given a one-month extension – a lovely nod to the quality of my work, our teamwork and the product's importance. That brings the total to six months.