For 2 years (2011-2012), I was on the PayPal Mobile Express Checkout team where I worked closely with Product Designers and UX experts. This opened my eyes to the path I wanted to take and I’m very thankful that my managers were open to letting me cultivate a hybrid role as UX Designer and UI Engineer.
These design specs gave me an opportunity to work with the design team and learn their processes, tools, and methodologies while learning to communicate with product and project managers, engineers, testers, and a few users. I also was able to observe and participate in user testing sessions in our usability lab on campus as well as a external lab in San Francisco.
Also, take a look at the UI Engineering work I did for PayPal.