Meet Lucy, a UX Graduate

What is your name and what did you study at University?

Hi, I’m Lucy, I went to Loughborough University and Graduated from Product Design and Technology in 2022 before joining the Ocado UX Graduate Programme in September 2024.

What activities did you undertake at university that helped you in your working life? What skills did you learn?

At university, I was part of both my department and hall committees. During this role I was not only responsible for planning and running events around campus but also being the voice for student concerns at meetings with section heads. These roles helped me develop teamwork and organisational skills, as well as helping me gain confidence in communicating my opinions in meetings - all skills that have been valuable throughout my time at Ocado.

However, I also feel there’s a lot of valuable skills that I learnt from my years after University that prepared me for my working life and time at Ocado. After graduating I took 2 years out to work and travel. I gained skills in budget planning, organisation and gained confidence in stepping into the unknown. I learnt to adapt in unplanned situations and gained confidence in talking to and connecting with people from a range of different backgrounds. All of these skills have been valuable during my working life, not only with having confidence in interviews but also once joining my team. A great aspect about the Graduate Programme at Ocado is that they don’t require you to have graduated within a set timeline - this has major advantages, not only for people taking time out after university, but it also encourages people who are looking for career changes.

What appealed to you about working at Ocado Group on the graduate programme?

The UX Graduate Programme at Ocado appealed to me because it provided a comprehensive approach to UX design, with opportunities to gain experience in both Research and Design with a range of teams across Ocado Technology. I was particularly drawn to the scheme due to its rotational nature, having the opportunity to work alongside a variety of teams on a range of projects. I thought the benefits program was also a great opportunity for further development, with the Future Leaders Programme, as well as the opportunity to work 30 days anywhere in the world.

What does your job entail (please consider IP)?

I am currently working as a UX Researcher in the Ecommerce Team. Even though I have only been with Ocado for just over 1 month, I have already had the opportunity to work on a range of projects all focusing on the User Experience of Ocado Smart Platform Retailers (not only from Ocado Retail). These projects are not only tactical research (e.g. focusing on user opinions on one aspect of the website), but also higher-level Strategic projects. A recent project that I have been involved in, has been running interviews with customers about their experience with the Homepage on the App, and gathering insights from this to present to a range of teams (Product Managers, Data Analysts, Software Engineers, and UX Designers) to inform the direction for a homepage redesign.

What has been a key achievement/stand out moment so far?

A key achievement for me so far, would definitely be the first time I presented an Insights Deck. It was a project researching the effectiveness of the ‘Book a Slot’ Page and it was the first project I had worked on from start-finish. Although I was only 1 month into my placement, I was given the opportunity to lead the analysis section of the project, create the insights deck and run the feedback session where I presented the findings to the Product Manager as well as Designers and Engineers. This was a great opportunity for me as not only did it mean that I had gained trust from my team at Ocado, it also allowed me to work on creating easy to understand presentations and gain confidence in speaking to groups of people who I had not met before.

What tips would you give to a student or graduate interested in the graduate programme?

I would say be yourself - you’ll hear this a lot during the application process as it is one of Ocado’s main values (Be bold, be unique, be brilliant, be you) but it’s honestly true. Also, take time to research and learn about Ocado - find specific projects or areas that interest you as this will really help you gain confidence in interviews and fully understand why you want to work here.

How supported do you feel in terms of your personal development at Ocado? (ie. do you have the resources and support you need to develop your career)

The structure at Ocado is set up in a way that encourages support throughout all your rotations, once you have accepted your offer, you are assigned a Buddy (who stays a point of contact no matter your rotation) as well as a Mentor and Manager (who change with each rotation). You can go to any of these people with any questions and they’re always more than happy to help. In addition to this, we have the Future Leader programme to encourage personal development as well as access to a range of online learning resources.

What's one thing you now know/ like about Ocado that you didn't expect before you started?

The culture, it feels like everyone at Ocado is rooting for you to succeed. At university I was exposed to a very competitive environment, your work was graded against other students and everyone was in competition for the same placements/grad jobs, however this is totally different at Ocado. There is plenty of choice for your rotations and you choose where you’d like to go rather than it being assigned to you. Everyone is happy for you to reach out for advice (no matter their position in the company), and it is a great place to develop and learn from others.