Intuit | Internship
Data Persistence Tooling
Powering seamless data publishing through a "fall into success" paved path, and a unified control-plane interface.
This project is under NDA. Please reach out for more information!
Role
Product Design Intern
Timeline
12 weeks, May – August 2026
Tools
Team
Data, Growth, & Experiences (DGX)
My Impact
This summer I designed Data Persistence Tooling for developers at Intuit.
I worked with the Data, Growth, and Experiences team (DGX) supporting Intuit's internal data tools.
Internal Users
Estimated Saved Annually
Rollout Approved
Overview
Data Persistence is an internal suite of managed database products that platform teams across Intuit use to store and access data.
Think of it as an application's memory. Anytime a team wants to create a product that uses accounting files, user profiles, or a search feature they use data persistence as the backend infrastructure.
Problem
Intuit lacks a centralized location for teams to manage their database structures, resulting in fragmented workflows and slowed feature delivery.
I conducted 4 "follow-me-home" user tests to understand the current problems that bot new and legacy users of Intuit's Data Persistence Services faced.
Solution
One platform for every team's database needs.
My redesign of the Data Persistence Platform acts as a unified control-plane for the entire Data Persistence product portfolio.
Supporting AI-powered workflows.
The platform becomes a touchpoint for users working with AI plugins and Data Persistence support teams managing PR approvals.
Features
Users can verify the contents of deployed database schemas.
Diagrams built with Neo4j allow users to preview the contents of deployed databases, providing a visual resolution to AI-powered workflows.
The Dev Portal access point makes the gating process clear and actionable.
Approval requirements become visible and users can directly enable subsequent steps where possible to reduce requests for manual approval through Slack.
Composing relational data through a node-based canvas.
Composing databases from multiple datasets was previously an error-prone process. AI plugins left engineers with a "black box" without any visual mental model for the complex relationships they want to configure. The new Data Persistence platform introduces a guided, multi-step wizard that steers users toward the right architectural decisions by default—turning an error-prone, multi-day process into a streamlined flow where users naturally fall into success.
Zero-states provide context and action for new users.
Getting started with the Data Persistence Platform was intimidating, especially for PMs and Data Scientists who lack domain expertise. I redesigned the zero state to provide contextual information and links to previously scattered documentation.
Impact
Empowering new and legacy users.
The improved Data Persistence Platform provides contextual onboarding for new users who are unfamiliar with the domain while unblocking expert users to improve upon existing workflows.
Having a layer pointed at people who don’t know if they’re in the right place is the most helpful thing in this new world of everybody does everything.
— Staff Data Scientist
If you can configure it here without code changes, this feature alone will unblock me from so many things.
— Senior Software Engineer
Process
Iterative prototyping with Claude & Cursor.
I used Claude Code and Cursor to build a high-fidelity interactive prototype for stakeholder and user testing. By importing live React components and Intuit Design System tokens, I was able to rapidly explore diverse design directions while producing production-ready designs.
Notebook LM
Claude Code
Cursor
Figma
Leading critiques with my PM and Developer partners.
My live, sharable prototype acted as a living artifact to align the product vision across my team— a PM and two back-end developmers. I used version controlling to track different UI options that I validated with users and stakeholders.
Table Options
Separate Column & Relationships
Pitching to PM & engineering leadership for an FY27 rollout.
I had the chance to lead presentations with senior leadership— including the Director of Development for Data Persistence and my PM's manager—walking them through our prototype and user insights. After incorporating feedback through multiple iterations, our team officially got the green light for an FY27 rollout!
Reflection
Intuit taught me resilience and my role as a designer in the world of AI.
I joined Intuit during a time of major organizational changes that impacted my team and the trajectory of my internship. I was thrown into in the deep end of a complex technical domain without the guidance I was supposed to have, but this became a lesson in learning fast and finding calm in the chaos. Instead of letting shifting priorities slow me down, I leaned into connecting with my users and building an experience where everyone feels confident building.
Most importantly, it showed me the irreplaceable value of design in a shifting world: while AI can spit out lines of code, thoughtful design provides the clarity, polish, and the human trust needed to build at scale.
Thank you to the lovely DGX team and Intuit Internship Program!
Special thanks to Tim Fischer, Eshita Gupta, Sanjana Danait, Carolyn Nguyen, and the rest of the DGX team for a great summer!
Kyla is an exceptional designer, and she learned a highly technical domain super fast from scratch. Within weeks she had working prototypes. She also worked like a peer, not just an intern.
— Crystal Ju, Data Persistence PM
She created an experience from the ground up where no solution existed, and it now appears in the FY27 data platform plan... The design outlived the internship, which is a clear signal of impact.
— Tim Fischer, Manager
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