Summer Design Researcher - 2026 Master’s Internship

IA Collaborative

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

IA Collaborative is seeking a Summer Design Researcher to join our team during Summer 2026 for a 10-week immersive experience in the world of innovation, where you’ll work on real client projects as a part of a multidisciplinary team.
As a Summer Design Researcher you will:
Research: Through immersive, contextual research you will live design problems and uncover insights to solve them. This may include assisting with protocols, recruiting, conducting virtual and in-field observations, and synthesizing data into deep and actionable insights.
AI-Guided Exploration: You will work at the forefront of research and design strategy, integrating AI-assisted methodologies into your research and synthesis processes— combining rich human insight with the scale and speed of automation.
Strategic Thinking: You will help us push the boundaries of innovation, creating frameworks, organizing information, and positioning new offerings.
Design: You will collaborate with multi-disciplinary teams to translate research insights into principles and directives for design. This may include sketching and brainstorming ideas, and crafting stories to communicate insights, strategic recommendations, and design directions.
Business Development: You will support IA Collaborative’s overall business by exploring future possibilities for the organization, including new offerings and capabilities, thought leadership, and other business growth-oriented activities.

Requirements

• Currently within the first or second year in a Master’s program with a concentration in Design Research, Design Strategy, Service Design, or equivalent field.
• Minimum one year of professional work experience with a proven track record of communication skills, interpersonal effectiveness, and personal management skills.
• Familiarity with a wide range of Design Thinking methodologies including: In-context observations, stakeholder interviews, journey mapping, and framework design.
• Ability to work with teams to identify user-needs and patterns, key insights, and opportunities, and then translate and prioritize opportunities into business and design implications.
• A drive to deliver impactful and actionable insights and provide clear strategic direction.
• Possess the ability to think conceptually about products and services, constantly exploring new and differentiated ways to design for users.
• Possess strong presentation and storytelling abilities.
• Experience using AI-powered platforms to support the research and synthesis process (e.g., Marvin, Dovetail, Notion, Dscout, Maze, etc.) in addition to a willingness to experiment with nascent tools.
• Ability to work from our downtown headquarters 3 days per week for the duration of the internship.

Nice To Haves

• Previous experience in a research or design-related position.
• Experience with key research-related activities and deliverables: writing research plans, writing research protocols, developing screeners, working with recruiting agencies, facilitating research observations, note-taking and video recording, and debriefing observations.
• Familiar and comfortable using the Macintosh Operating System, Keynote, Figma, and Microsoft Office.
• Ability to travel consecutive days, if necessary

Responsibilities

• Research: Through immersive, contextual research you will live design problems and uncover insights to solve them. This may include assisting with protocols, recruiting, conducting virtual and in-field observations, and synthesizing data into deep and actionable insights.
• AI-Guided Exploration: You will work at the forefront of research and design strategy, integrating AI-assisted methodologies into your research and synthesis processes— combining rich human insight with the scale and speed of automation.
• Strategic Thinking: You will help us push the boundaries of innovation, creating frameworks, organizing information, and positioning new offerings.
• Design: You will collaborate with multi-disciplinary teams to translate research insights into principles and directives for design. This may include sketching and brainstorming ideas, and crafting stories to communicate insights, strategic recommendations, and design directions.
• Business Development: You will support IA Collaborative’s overall business by exploring future possibilities for the organization, including new offerings and capabilities, thought leadership, and other business growth-oriented activities.

What This Job Offers

• Career Level: Intern