Driving Innovation at the Volvo Group
Paige Smyth (EDI '25) spent the summer exploring customer experience across the connected services division for Volvo Trucks North America.
But Smyth wasn't overwhelmed.
She credits Northwestern's Master of Science in Engineering Design Innovation (EDI) program for that.
"EDI prepared me well for the internship, both giving me a solid understanding of the general design process and a toolbox of methods to use throughout my work," she said. "From day one, I felt well-equipped to continue moving forward and experimenting while we refined our research and final recommendations."
Smyth worked with two other interns to investigate the customer experience across the connected services division for Volvo Trucks North America. In that role, she conducted customer and internal stakeholder interviews, synthesized research, created frameworks to explain the group's findings, and delivered presentations to project stakeholders and a company-wide audience to go over the work and its implications.
Going into the internship, Smyth knew little about Volvo Group, other than that it was a large company focused on trucking. She was drawn to the opportunity because of its emphasis on service design.
"I was excited about the opportunity to work in the connected services division of a physical product company," she said. "It comes with unique constraints and opportunities to innovate and explore what services can look like going forward."
Smyth was excited to learn what service design looks like in a corporate setting. She also looked forward to networking in Silicon Valley. Most significantly, she wanted to use the internship as a way to apply lessons learned during her first year in EDI.
One of those lessons was how to conduct a good interview, something that helped Smyth talk to stakeholders throughout the organization and customers across the country. Another lesson was a relatively simple but powerful one: there are no bad ideas.
"Every idea is worth exploring and provides something to learn," Smyth said. "During the internship, we came to several points where we could have easily gotten stuck. Using some of the brainstorming and ideation exercises I’ve discovered through EDI, I was able to maintain our team’s momentum and come up with new frameworks and directions, some of which made up the foundation of our final presentation and recommendations."
The internship provided a different type of hands-on education for Smyth that she thinks isn't possible in the classroom. It's why she appreciates that EDI's schedule provides an opportunity for a summer internship as part of the curriculum.
Now, in addition to lessons learned in the classroom, she has lessons learned "in the real world" that she can now apply to the rest of her time in EDI and throughout her professional career.
One of those lessons she learned through her internship was the power of storytelling.
"Design methods are powerful on their own, but they’re most impactful when you can tie your research and recommendations to business outcomes," she said. "It’s also a skill to be able to convey that value to a wider audience of non-designers. I learned a lot about tailoring content to different audiences and crafting a story around the work you’ve done."
