During my first assignment at Google I was on a rapid research team where we worked on various product areas like Google Assistant, Search, and News. Functioning as a “consultancy” within Google, I conducted “fast” user research where research sessions, analyses and deliverables were completed within 1 week. As a UX Researcher I partnered with product team UX Researchers, designers, and other product team members to carry out some of their most pressing UX research needs.
Want to know something fun about the research team? Our rapid research team was very dedicated to getting to know users near and far. Pre-pandemic you could find us recruiting people (cafe study style) wandering around the Google Campuses or as far as the research van would go. That’s right, we drove a giant research van to reach users we wouldn’t otherwise be able to! Sometimes, even all around the US.
Here are just some examples of the neat projects I got to work on while on the Rapid Research team at Google.
Top stories on Google Search
The Google News team redesigned the UI of news results on Search and wanted to gather user understanding before launch. A team of 2 user researchers (including myself) tackled this study to be able to conduct user interviews and produce deliverables.
My role: Moderated, Analyzed data, and produced a full report that was presented to the product team.
Impact: The study findings led to modifications in the redesign that would enable a clearer understanding for Search users browsing news stories.
More on the official release of these updates can be found in the Google Blog.
‘Top Stories’ on Google Search
Interpreter Mode on Assistant
This project tackled the complex nature of language and translation barriers. In preparation for launch, this evaluative study assessed the onboarding, usability and discoverability of a variety of features for Interpreter Mode on the Assistant app.
My role: Planned research study, moderated, analyzed data, and produced a full report that was presented to the product team.
Impact: The study findings led to the identification of usability and discoverability issues necessary to be addressed prior to launch.
More on the official release of these updates can be found in the Google Blog. For a full case study please email me!
‘Interpreter Mode’ on Assistant