Malika Chatlapalli
Google, User Experience Designer – “…skills like process optimization and ergonomics that I did learn through Industrial and Operations Engineering help me everyday with my design work. ”
EDUCATION
University of Michigan, BSE Industrial and Operations Engineering, 2012
CAREER SUMMARY
After graduating from the University of Michigan in 2012, I started working in technology consulting at IBM. Through a rotational program I was able to learn about a variety of roles and industries early on in my career, and this helped me eventually find user experience (UX) design as my passion. I completed a UX bootcamp a few years later and officially started my design career at United Airlines, Priceline.com, and now Google.
Career Timeline
Google | New York, NY
Priceline.com | New York, NY
United Airlines | Chicago, IL
IBM | Chicago, IL
Reflection on Time Spent at U-M
Although I didn’t learn about color theory or information architecture during my time at Michigan, skills like process optimization and ergonomics that I did learn through Industrial and Operations Engineering help me everyday with my design work. The exposure I received to other engineering disciplines like computer science and mechanical engineering allow me to collaborate with others and understand design in a whole new way.
Favorite Classes
IOE 481 (senior design project) taught me how my classroom education could be applied to the real world, and how I could use my knowledge to help others – in this case, nurses in the U of M hospital system.
Greek Mythology was a fun yet challenging course that took me out of the engineering mindset and allowed me to learn about a personal interest. It’s always good to change things up!