Summer 2027 User Experience Design Internship

Southwest Airlines Co.; Dallas (TX); On-site; USD 29,000 - 33,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stipends may be offered

Space‑available travel privileges

Job summary

Southwest Airlines Co. in Dallas is seeking a Summer 2027 UX/UI Design Intern to work on the cross‑department Service Modernization effort. You will help design customer‑facing digital self‑service tools across apps, web, and kiosks, and collaborate with UX designers and project teams.

The internship runs 12 weeks from May 18 to August 8, 2027, at our Dallas, TX headquarters. You’ll gain hands‑on design experience, participate in usability studies, and receive equipment and travel privileges as

Qualifications

• Progress toward a degree in listed design fields.
• Must be currently enrolled as a full-time student during internship.
• Minimum 2.5 cumulative GPA at application time.
• U.S. citizen or authorized to work in the U.S. under current rules.

Responsibilities

• Design impactful and delightful user experiences for Southwest external and internal digital experiences.
• Generate ideas and refine concepts with Stakeholders and UX Designers.
• Create wireframes, prototypes, and inform information architecture.
• Support usability studies with the User Research Team.
• Align with Digital Experience strategy and project timelines.
• Present capstone project to Stakeholders at duration end.

Skills

Wireframing tools

Visual design tools

Prototyping tools

Jira / PM tools

Agile / SAFe / Waterfall

HTML / CSS basics

Education

Graphic design

Communication design

Human–Computer Interaction

Industrial Design

Service Design

Job description

Department:

Digital

Our Company Promise

We are committed to provide our Employees a stable work environment with equal opportunity for learning and personal growth. Creativity and innovation are encouraged for improving the effectiveness of Southwest Airlines. Above all, Employees will be provided the same concern, respect, and caring attitude within the organization that they are expected to share externally with every Southwest Customer.

Job Description:

Summer 2027 User Experience Design Internship

As part of the cross-departmental Service Modernization effort, the Day Of Travel Team aims to reduce costs, improve the overall Customer experience, and remove friction from the airport lobby & gate areas on our Customers' day of travel. Our Team designs and delivers thoughtful Customer-facing digital self-service tools that span across native apps, desktop, mobile web, and kiosk.

Additional Details

• Join Southwest as a Summer 2027 Intern, with a 12-week internship lasting from May 18 - August 8, 2027.

• Pay of $21-$24 per hour, corresponding with progress toward degree.

• Stipends may be offered based on eligibility and program criteria.

• The culture of Southwest Airlines means we value the camaraderie, collaboration, and innovation that occurs when we come together and interact face-to-face at our vibrant Corporate Campus. Due to the nature of this role, you would be required to work from our Dallas, TX headquarters facility during business hours (2702 Love Field Drive).

• Dedicate 40 hours each week (maximum of 8 hours per day) to your internship responsibilities and tasks.

• Receive free, unlimited space available travel privileges for yourself (taxes and fees may apply on international travel).

• Interns will be provided any required equipment, such as a laptop, for the internship.

• U.S. citizenship or current authorization to work in the U.S. required and no current or future work authorization sponsorship available.

We're committed to fair hiring practices and to making employment decisions without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, age, military or veteran status, disability, genetic information, or other legally protected characteristics.

Duties and Responsibilities:

The duties and responsibility of the UX/UI Intern may include but are not limited to:

• Design impactful & delightful user experiences for Southwest external and internal digital experiences, with an ability to execute through requirements.

• Generate ideas and refine concepts with Stakeholders including Project Team Members and other UX Designers in the community of practice.

• Employ resources and optimize work efficiently within scope of responsibility.

• Initiate courses of action in line with Digital Experience strategy, drive forward and follow through against promised timelines.

• Construct hypotheses, seek solutions and best practices in determining information structure, wireframes/prototypes, and user interactions in a manner that is simple and intuitive.

• Communicate all types of interaction, create a point of view, collaborate effectively, present with poise and confidence.

• Seek out best practices from across competitive digital experiences and apply learnings to design deliverables.

• Create stimuli for usability studies and partner with the User Research Team to facilitate tests with Customers.

• Research and maintain up to date knowledge of information architecture, user experience, web design, accessibility and usability trends.

• Work with Leader to align on priorities, constructively address project work, and build personal development plans.

• Commit to a capstone project & presentation to share with relevant Stakeholders.

• May perform other job duties as directed by Employee's Leaders.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Knowledge of a variety of design tools specializing in wire framing (ex: Figma, Axure, UX Pin, Visio, etc), visual design (ex: Sketch, Figma, Photoshop, Illustrator, etc), and prototyping (ex: Principle, Marvel, Invision, Adobe XD, etc)

• Basic knowledge of JIRA, Microsoft Project, and/or Trello preferred.

• Basic knowledge of project management principles and methodologies such as agile, scaled agile (SAFe), waterfall, etc. preferred.

• Basic understanding of working with development and basic understanding of HTML and CSS preferred.

Education

• Progress towards a degree, major or minor in Graphic design, Communication design, Human and Computer Interaction, Industrial Design, Service Designer or a similar degree required.

• Progress towards a 4-year undergraduate degree preferred

• To be eligible, you must be currently enrolled as a full-time student (as defined by your university) at the time of application and during the internship

• At least one semester remaining at the time the internship ends is preferred

• Minimum 2.5 cumulative GPA at the time of application

Basic Qualifications:

• High School Diploma, GED or equivalent education required.

• Must be at least 18 years of age.

• You must have a valid U.S. Social Security Number to complete the full hiring process.

• Must have authorization to work in the United States as defined by the Immigration Reform Act of 1986.

Experience

• Specialized knowledge preferred:

• Digital Experience Design

• User Experience Design

• Digital Marketing

• Marketing

• Large Organization Experience

Southwest Airlines is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Please print/save this job description because it won't be available after you apply.