Meet Teo Kailin, a Year 2 student from the School of Computing. Kailin joined NUS IT in May 2024 for her Summer internship and has since continued her journey with us as a part-timer through the SWIFT program to further develop her project.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I’m studying Computer Science and recently specialised in databases as my focus area. After this internship, I developed an interest in Interaction Design and UX, so this semester, I’m taking a module called Interaction Design to learn and gain more experience.
Can you share a bit about your role / the project you’ve been involved in?
I worked on CyberQuest – a gamified IT Security e-learning experience.
While my teammates Ji Hoon and Livia were more focused on coding, I was more focused on content creation and user interaction. After I complete my part, I would hand my work over to the coders and adjust my work according to their feedback. Often times they would tell me that certain aspects needed to be changed, as the code didn’t always match what I initially envisioned, so I also needed to understand how the coding worked rather than just doing what I wanted.
Through SWIFT, I’m now continuing with the same project but also exploring coding. I’m realising that everything is different from what I initially thought. I’ve had to rethink my approach and make sure the user clearly understands what we’re trying to deliver.
Has your work here given you any insights into NUS IT’s cybersecurity awareness efforts across NUS?
Almost everything was new to me! [laughs]
One thing I wasn’t aware of was the extent of cybersecurity awareness efforts for NUS staff. Specifically for e-learning, I found that many of the systems discussed were ones I had never used before since I’ve only ever been exposed to the student side of things.
It was definitely a new experience and also helped me realise how crucial it is to put ourselves in the shoes of a non-technical user to truly understand their perspective.
What personal strengths have you found most valuable while working on cybersecurity awareness?
I found that patience and design thinking were crucial.
Patience was essential during the development process. Being a part of a team, we often have to have difficult conversations where for example, the coders discuss how they dislike certain parts, and I’ve had to learn to accept and understand where they’re coming from. It is natural for disagreements to arise from being part of a team and we must have patience to work through them together. We need to be selfless and not just think about ourselves.
For content creation, design thinking was important to understand the content and figure out how to deliver it in a gamified experience. Sometimes during the process, you realise that a certain topic or section can’t be translated to a game format. It’s part of the process of exploring and looking into different apps and features to deliver something unique. While we try our best to explore something new, turning e-learning into a game format is challenging because, at the end of the day, the learning objectives must be met—it can’t just be a fun game.
What has been the most rewarding aspect of your internship experience so far?
The entire experience was rewarding.
In my past experience, companies typically assign interns small tasks or assign them to shadow full-time staff, with no complete project for an intern to call their own. In this internship, our team allowed us to work on something new and implement our ideas while also providing the necessary support to ensure we stayed on the right track.
I was very surprised by the opportunity to create something from scratch. Although it was stressful at the start, it was also a valuable challenge and a rare opportunity to work on something so innovative.
What advice would you give to future interns who join this programme?
My advice for future interns is: Don’t worry too much. There’s always someone here who can help you. We’re all here to learn.
However, don’t rely solely on others. Figure out your next steps while working on your current tasks, and don’t give up on the challenge that you embark on.
