INTERNSHIP OVERVIEW

STMicroelectronics is a global high-tech company creating semiconductor technologies. As a visual design intern at the Santa Clara Branch in the AME Management department, which is dedicated to sales and marketing, I led the design of visual storytelling presentation decks by leveraging clear messaging and strong visual design skills. I contributed to developing visual strategies for key projects, partnering with senior leadership to present tailored business value drivers to target audiences and diverse stakeholders.

DURATION

10 Weeks (20 hrs per week)

MANAGER/SUPERVISOR

Mohammad Abdussamy (Vice Strategy Execution Office & Automotive Sales)

THE PROBLEM

STMicroelectronics Santa Clara wanted to improve visual communication that originally was highly inconsistent, failing clear communication internally and externally, including target audiences in the sales/marketing presentations.

IMPACT

I exceeded performance goals by 120% within 10 weeks (20 hours per week), translating complex business objectives into compelling visual storytelling through strategic and impactful sales/marketing presentation visual design. In the internship wrap-up session, I went over the below reflection for responsibilities, for which I measured the job metrics and evaluated them against the responsibilities outlined in the original job posting.

How did I get there?

Designing impactful, strategic sales and marketing presentations has never been easy. Moving an idea from its inception to adoption is hard, but itā€™s a battle that can be won simply by wielding great storytelling. So, I focused my lens on its purpose: presentation conveys stories, and they produce an experience. Blending the two creates a perfect world for your presentation where facts and stories can be layered like a cake. Navigating between fact, then story, then fact, then story creates interest and a pulse.

MY ROLE

Visual Designer

TOOLS

Microsoft PowerPoint, Excel

Presentation is a powerfully persuasive tool, and when packed in a story framework, your ideas become downright unstoppable.

- Resonate (2010) by Nancy Duarte

DESIGN PROCESS OVERVIEW

1. UNDERSTAND MATERIALS

To understand existing design problems, I reviewed the current presentation materials, ST brand portal, and guidelines. It took a bit of time as most of the content was highly business related and data- & text-heavy. So I asked lots of questions to my manager to understand the materials.

Questions that I made reading materials:

  1. Who is the audience?

  2. What are the goals of the presentation/slide?

  3. Which data/slides can make a decision?

  4. What data is useful for you? = Informs + matters + deserves a response

2. DEFINE PROBLEMS

I found that the company was using massive amounts of data, tables, and graphs, and they were presented with a mess, lack of visual attention, and information architecture. So, there was a gap I could fill with visual attention and data visualization.

  1. Lack of Visual Attention: Difficulty in determining where attention should be directed.

  2. Lack of Information Hierarchy: Ineffective organization of content.

  3. Massive Data: Too many graphs and charts are bombarding.

DESIGN REQUIREMENTS

Color

  • Limit variations to three colors (opacity variations are acceptable).

  • Ensure colors have clear meaning; avoid using multiple colors without purpose.

  • Use default dark blue-gray for neutral content and highlight key elements with bright blue, yellow, or bright pink.

Text

  • Use a maximum of three font sizes: Large, Medium, and Small.

  • Maintain a minimum text size of 8 points (for charts or dense data).

  • Align text consistently for visual clarity.

Background

  • Use a clean and minimal background to emphasize content.

  • Eliminate visual distractions to keep the focus on what truly matters.

3. CATEGORIZE SLIDE ATTRIBUTES

I categorized 16 attributes: Summary (Highlights, Lowlights, Opportunities, Threats), Analytics, Inform, Calendar, Comparison, Trend, Processā€¦

4. IDEA SKETCH

I embarked on sketching various visual scenarios on each attribute to facilitate design implementation and reduce iterations, receiving feedback and final confirmation from my manager.

DESIGN PRINCIPLE: Utilize Preattentive Attributes

Preattentive attributes are visual properties that the human brain processes almost instantly, before conscious attention is engaged. These attributes enable quick identification of key elements in a visual scene without the need for focused effort or deliberate thought. This is hugely critical because what this means is that our pre-attentive attributes, if we use them strategically, can help enable us to get our audience to see what we want them to see before they even know what theyā€™re seeing.

Preattentive attributes were used in the data visualization toā€¦

ā€¢ Highlight important information.

ā€¢ Reduce cognitive load by organizing content visually.

ā€¢ Draw attention to critical areas, ensuring the audience sees what you intend them to notice.

HOW WERE DESIGNS IMPROVED?

5. FINAL DESIGN

I delivered the most utilized slide attributes with data visualization for the ST employees for their sales and marketing presentations by leveraging clear messaging and strong visual design skills, maintaining consistent ST brand guidelines.

PART 2

Leading ā€˜How to Pitch your Dataā€™ Workshops for ST Employees

Throughout my internship, I realized that PowerPoint design templates are bound to break because a one-size-fits-all template does not exist, and adjustments are inevitable depending on the content and layout composition. Therefore, my templates might be useless at the end of the day. I wanted ST employees to know the power of storytelling with data, I wanted them to utilize data visualization for their work and bring compelling and impactful outcomes.

So, amid the internship, I proposed my manager data visualization workshops to empower employees to deliver actionable, data-driven insights to stakeholders, ensuring presentations were both clear and engaging. Although this was a bold move for an intern, I convinced my manager with well-thought-out rationales as below:

Why is a data visualization workshop necessary?

  • ST employees can learn how to effectively present ideas with data (graphs, charts) and weave them into compelling and action-inspiring messages.

  • This is a great opportunity to learn how to convince target audiences with data visualization and make a pivotal point in email, report, and presentation through immediately applicable real-world examples.

WORKSHOPS: How to Pitch your Data Effectively

I led two sessions of workshops (in-person and virtual)

STORYTELLING WITH DATA: Hereā€™s a sneak peek of the workshops

For the workshop, I wanted to show the current ST PowerPoint data visualization and what can be improved. So, I brought one of the most common slides (left), which just shows data, illustrated without context, not presenting what the point is. Thereā€™s no story to bring it to life, and if you are the audience, you donā€™t know what to take action with this. On the other hand, the right side slide is a revamped one, which clearly makes the call to action to the target audiences, annotating the context directly on the graph, and drawing attention to the gap thatā€™s forming. Even though they are exactly the same data, it can be differently presented and pull out the audiencesā€™ action that I want.

Source: Storytelling with Data by Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic

WORKSHOP EFFECTIVENESS: Positive engagement and feedback

WORKSHOP IMPACT: Established and shared ST Santa Clara Design Assets

Design layout templates, workshop slides, and recorded workshop video were shared with all attendees on one drive cloud and through a follow-up email.

WHATā€™S NEXT?

I wrapped up my internship by proposing my potential contributions.

WHAT I LEARNED

Let me share two lessons I learned during my 10-week internship that have transformed me into a more advanced visual designer who creates data-driven, visually compelling storytelling:

1. Taking Ownership: No Oneā€™s Going to Teach You What to Do.
Iā€™d love to clarify that I love this point with unlimited growth possibilities. At first, I struggled with ambiguity. I was expected to take full ownership of my work, drawing from my previous experiences in design and business management. Although the ambiguity initially felt overwhelming, it became an opportunity for growth. Tacking problems hands-on within a business strategy framework taught me skills that are both practical and enduring. By the end of the internship, I had successfully executed data-driven storytelling through visually compelling presentation decks, collaborating cross-functionally with teams to align business goals with design strategies.


2. Doing 20% More: Pushing Beyond Expectations
Throughout my internship, I continually asked myself, ā€œHow can I add more value?ā€ This proactive mindset motivated me to step outside the traditional ā€œinternā€ role.
One standout initiative was proposing and leading data visualization workshops. These sessions empowered employees to deliver actionable, data-driven insights to stakeholders, ensuring presentations were both clear and engaging. Although this was a bold move for an intern, I convinced my manager with well-thought-out rationales and received positive engagement and feedback from colleagues.
As a result, I exceeded performance goals by 120%, successfully translating complex business objectives into impactful visual storytelling.

Now, I am ready to embrace new opportunities as a visual storyteller. The lessons and experiences Iā€™ve gained at STMicroelectronics have prepared me with the confidence to tackle creative challenges ahead! šŸŽØšŸ“Š