Google Cloud Search
The product enables search across an organization’s first and third-party files while also providing proactive assistance surfaced in knowledge cards which dynamically update throughout the work day. The product delivers quick access to company files across web and native applications quickly and securely.
The Challenges
When most people hear the name “Google” the first thing typically that comes to mind is “Search”.
Tackling such a huge responsibility for our global enterprise customers was not only an honor but a challenge in terms of the amount of processes and constraints that are in place at companies large and small.
The basic UX of Search had been mostly oversaturated so the focus of my work went deeper into understanding what information users currently found themselves needing at work. This exploration uncovered many internal constraints such as technology hierarchy (via IT admin), inconsistency across corporately managed devices and complex file permissions across first and third party softwares.
Role
UX, Visual design, Lead. I led design across the product, worked with a large cross-functional team and oversaw the conceptualization of the product including user journeys, wireframes and high-fidelity design. Outside of my applied design leadership, I also implemented, scheduled and led weekly office hour sessions across all of our platform engineering teams working on the product (Web, iOS and Android)
Find people at work
At medium to large companies, finding more information about people at work is a fairly scattered space. From needing to know who you’re upcoming meeting is with to finding that contact in a department in which you’re unfamiliar. I had a ton of questions around the instances in which people needed to find this information. This curiosity led our team toward understanding this problem deeper and we conducted a series of qualitative user studies to gain understanding around core user needs for finding people at work. These studies led to a richer understanding of the key problems and the insights informed my design of the product.
Prepare for your next meeting:
Aimed at helping you prepare for your day by providing intelligent document and people recommendations before a meeting, this feature helps solve to the very real user problem of not feeling prepared or competent when in a meeting. With all of the associated emails, background documents and even people information, the user can easily stay ahead of their day.
Early explorations around how to build on top of the traditional realm of search led our teams to think critically about the reactive nature of search and how it could be better. The transition from query-based search to a more proactive way of serving information helped to pressure tests some early assumptions and validate a product roadmap I helped to develop.
Through machine learning and a strong understanding of affinity to the user, I worked with the team to design and build a proactive eco-system of assist cards which surfaced relevant information to users before they have to ask for it.