Intern, Robot Operations and Management Discovery, Physical AI Division, SNDG

Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI); Singapore; On-site; SGD 10,000 - 17,000; Part time

Job summary

The Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) invites motivated interns to join a government-led study of how robots are operated and managed across deployments. You'll help uncover user needs and identify operational challenges in real-world settings.

Participants will conduct qualitative interviews, field observations, and usability tests in on-site government environments, turning insights into user journeys, service blueprints, and prototypes for potential interventions.

Qualifications

• Experience or interest in qualitative user and field research.
• Ability to analyse qualitative data into user needs, journeys, and service blueprints.
• Strong communication, curiosity, and analytical skills.

Responsibilities

• Conduct user research across government robot deployments.
• Synthesize findings into user needs, journeys, and problem maps.
• Create user journeys, service blueprints, and workflow maps.
• Translate research findings into design concepts and prototypes.
• Conduct usability testing and iterate designs based on feedback.

Skills

Qualitative user research

Interviews

Contextual inquiry

Field observations

Tools

Figma

Job description

Project Description

This internship offers an exciting opportunity to study how robots are operated and managed across existing Government deployments, building on initial Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) research already conducted. Findings will be synthesised to identify recurring operational challenges and inform potential interventions to improve the effective adoption and management of robots.

Project Objectives

• Understand how robots are operated, supported, and managed in real-world Government environments.
• Identify recurring user needs, operational pain points, workarounds, and underlying problems across different robot deployments.
• Map key workflows and interactions across frontline users, supervisors, service contractors, robot vendors, and agencies.

Expected Deliverables

• User research findings and synthesis across selected Government robot deployments.
• User journeys, service blueprints, workflow maps, and prioritised problem and opportunity areas.
• Concepts and prototypes of selected interventions, supported by user testing and iteration.
• Final recommendations on potential interventions, robot management solutions, and areas for further development.

User Research Background

• Experience or interest in qualitative user and field research, including interviews, contextual inquiry, and field observations.
• Ability to analyse and synthesise qualitative data into user needs, insights, journeys, service blueprints, and problem maps.
• Strong communication, curiosity, and analytical skills, with the ability to engage users from different operational backgrounds.

UI/UX Background

• Experience or interest in UI/UX, interaction, or product design, including user flows, wireframes, mock-ups, and interactive prototyping.
• Familiarity with design and prototyping tools such as Figma, as well as user-centred design methodologies.
• Ability to translate research findings into design concepts, conduct usability testing, and iteratively improve designs based on user feedback.

Interns should be comfortable conducting on-site research and engaging with frontline operational users.