Savi Finance gave us a really solid mentorship experience with consistent support throughout our project. Ralph guided us with thoughtful feedback, practical advice, and useful industry insights that helped us improve our work. He stayed available on Slack whenever we needed him and even held weekly check-ins to keep us on track. Ralph’s mentorship went beyond basic supervision; he shared industry knowledge, guided us through challenges, and really encouraged our growth as students. His commitment and patience reflected the company’s genuine investment in student development. The program provided a valuable window into workplace operations. Observing how different departments communicate gave us a clearer sense of how teams collaborate and how decisions are made within an organization. Throughout our project, we used the same professional tools and provided feedback within the company's systems, which gave us hands-on practice with professional communication standards and workplace etiquette. We gained a comprehensive understanding of how concepts we learned in the bootcamp translate into real-world applications and witnessed firsthand how successful companies operate at scale. This mentorship experience was a valuable learning opportunity that improved our understanding of industry practices and workplace dynamics.

Shiyao - My mentorship experience with Savi Finance has been very positive and inspiring. Ralph, the founder, created an environment where we could learn not only design practices but also how to collaborate with real stakeholders. He consistently shared his vision, walked us through his company’s mission, and opened up his team’s design resources for us to explore. This transparency allowed us to ground our ideas in Savi Finance’s real product context. What I appreciated most was Ralph’s dual role as both a client and a mentor. During weekly meetings, he summarized our contributions, gave thoughtful critiques, and offered actionable next steps. He also maintained great communication outside of meetings through Slack and Figma comments, making sure our questions were answered quickly and clearly. I especially valued how my ideas around AI personas were received—Ralph not only encouraged me to expand on them but even built upon my concepts, which made me feel that my work was meaningful and appreciated. Overall, this experience strengthened my skills in both UX process and collaboration, and gave me a better understanding of how design work evolves in a professional setting. Rebecca - This internship was a valuable experience in many areas—not only working with a team of four UX/UI designers from Springboard, but also collaborating closely with Ralph from the startup team at Savi. Together, we created, revised, and redesigned deliverables for the client, contributing solutions shaped by secondary research, competitive analysis, and information architecture. Ralph served as both client and mentor, offering advice, feedback, and encouragement that guided our process. We were encouraged to pursue our own ideas, as he challenged us to innovate and think creatively about designing an agentic AI that feels more human—a task larger in scope than we expected at the start, making the experience both challenging and rewarding. His mentorship also gave us insight into a professional environment where feedback and collaboration were constant themes. We gained hands-on experience with industry tools, team communication channels, and design reviews, all while being invited to contribute new perspectives. The journey from the first week to the last took us from divergent research and individual IA concepts to a more convergent, collaborative approach. At each stage we built on one another’s ideas, culminating in a final team project that delivered meaningful results and sparked new inspiration for the client. The dynamic within our team made this project especially rewarding. We navigated a complex process together, supported throughout by Ralph’s accessibility, guidance, and enthusiasm. Overall, I deeply appreciate Ralph’s mentorship and the collaborative spirit of the team, both of which made this internship a memorable and valuable experience. Pauline - Savi Finance gave us a really solid mentorship experience with consistent support throughout our project. Ralph, our dedicated mentor, guided us with thoughtful feedback, practical advice, and useful industry insights that helped us improve our work. He stayed available on Slack whenever we needed him and held weekly check-ins to keep us on track. What stood out most was that Ralph’s mentorship went far beyond basic supervision. He shared industry knowledge, helped us navigate challenges, and encouraged our growth as students entering the professional world. His commitment reflected the company’s genuine investment in student development. The program also gave us a great window into workplace operations. We observed how departments communicate, participated in real processes, and used tools that professionals rely on every day. This gave us a clearer sense of how teams collaborate and how decisions are made within an organization. Another valuable part of the experience was the chance to share feedback within the company’s systems, which gave us hands-on practice with professional communication standards and remote workplace etiquette. We gained a comprehensive understanding of how concepts we learned in the bootcamp translate into real-world applications and witnessed firsthand how successful companies operate at scale. This mentorship experience was a valuable learning opportunity that improved our understanding of industry practices and workplace dynamics. Duncan - Savi Finance and its CEO (Ralph) gave us a solid and realistic startup experience. Throughout our internship, we got to work on cutting-edge tech solutions, like dynamic artificial intelligence for finance. I really enjoyed working on a real-world product that solves real-world problems. I think sometimes the worry is that you might not be given the trust to work on the core product, but Ralph gave us the trust and the ability to conceptualize functions that will potentially influence the product going forward. I also think what’s surprising is that, despite our team being on different time zones, and mostly working full-time outside of the internship, Ralph still took time out of his busy schedule to offer mentorship, education, and industry insights from his time in tech and ux. I really also appreciated how Ralph gave us access to the same company tools and platforms for communication and tracking our work that his actual employees use, it helped us get familiar with industry practices and feel like an authentic part of the Savi Finance team. It also helped my team better adjust to our fully-remote role. While this is true for any field, the real-world application of UX is not as linear and puts focus more on certain steps than in our bootcamp projects. So I came away feeling much more confident I can do UX work the “corporate way” going forward, which, no matter where I land, is a gift I have Ralph to thank for. Thank you for the opportunity Ralph and the Savi Finance Team!

This internship was a valuable experience in many areas—not only working with a team of four UX/UI designers from Springboard, but also collaborating closely with Ralph from the startup team at Savi. Together, we created, revised, and redesigned deliverables for the client, contributing solutions shaped by secondary research, competitive analysis, and information architecture. Ralph served as both client and mentor, offering advice, feedback, and encouragement that guided our process. We were encouraged to pursue our own ideas, as he challenged us to innovate and think creatively about designing an agentic AI that feels more human—a task larger in scope than we expected at the start, making the experience both challenging and rewarding. His mentorship also gave us insight into a professional environment where feedback and collaboration were constant themes. We gained hands-on experience with industry tools, team communication channels, and design reviews, all while being invited to contribute new perspectives. The journey from the first week to the last took us from divergent research and individual IA concepts to a more convergent, collaborative approach. At each stage we built on one another’s ideas, culminating in a final team project that delivered meaningful results and sparked new inspiration for the client. The dynamic within our team made this project especially rewarding. We navigated a complex process together, supported throughout by Ralph’s accessibility, guidance, and enthusiasm. Overall, I deeply appreciate Ralph’s mentorship and the collaborative spirit of the team, both of which made this internship a memorable and valuable experience.