This summer, Expedia Group welcomed our first ever Design Builder interns to our teams in Seattle and London. More than a traditional internship, the Design Builder Internship program is designed for emerging product designers who will shape not only how experiences look, but also how they work—bringing together craft, systems thinking, and AI-native design practices.

As they settle in, connect with fellow Expedians, and jump into hands-on work across our travel portfolio, we took a moment to get to know them. Hear about what drew them to this opportunity and what they’re most excited to explore as they help bring new ideas to life.

Rida Merchant | University of Leicester | Hotels.com Design Team | London

Why did you decide to join Expedia Group? 
Having traveled to 8 countries, I’ve experienced some of the challenges travelers face first-hand – finding genuine value, understanding what a deal actually includes, and discovering places I might not have considered before. Joining EG gave me the opportunity to work on these kinds of problems at a global scale, helping millions of travelers across different markets and cultures.

What excites me most is the opportunity to explore how AI can be integrated into the design process – not just as an add-on, but as part of how we design, build and evaluate our work. As an intern, it’s exciting to be able to contribute to and learn in a space that is evolving so quickly.

What do you want to achieve by the end of the program?
There are two things I’d love to achieve. First, I want to become more confident and fluent in AI-native design workflows. I think understanding how to work effectively with AI will be an important skill for the next generation of designers, and I want to explore how it can genuinely improve the way we work.

Secondly, I want to meet and learn from as many people as possible. One of the best parts of a program like this is being surrounded by designers, researchers and fellow interns across different teams and brands, and I’d love to leave with relationships that continue well beyond the summer.

What are some activities you enjoy outside of work?
Traveling, unsurprisingly – 8 countries so far and counting! Cappadocia in Turkey has definitely been my favorite so far. I love experiencing new places, cultures and food.

Junjin Tan | University of Michigan | Design System Team | Seattle

Why did you decide to join EG?
What really drew me to Expedia Group was the scale of the design department. One of my very first experiences as an intern was attending the Experience Design Town Hall, and seeing hundreds of designers from around the world actively collaborating and discussing what they’ve worked on to push travel experiences forward was genuinely unlike anything I’d seen before. That impression only deepened once I started working with my team; the depth behind the design system reflects an organization that prioritizes design as an infrastructure.

What do you want to achieve by the end of the program?
Interning at a company like Expedia Group is a rare opportunity and being immersed in a corporate design ecosystem with guidelines and systems as mature as my team has already taught me more than I expected. For me, this internship is about bridging the gap between coursework and reality; taking concepts I’ve explored in class and seeing them actually come to life in prototypes that real teams use and build on. By the end of the program, I want to walk away with a body of work that reflects what I’ve learned from collaborating with and being around designers who are much further along in their careers than I am.

What do you like to do for fun?
Since moving to Washington I’ve been leaning into the outdoors a lot more — hiking, pickleball, and rock climbing have all become regulars, and on Thursdays a group of us interns get together for volleyball and spikeball on the lawn. Outside of that I play saxophone, paint, and read.