Google: UX-Focused Projects

Grow, 2018 — 2020

During my time at Grow, I worked on a ton of Google projects. Here are just a few of my favorites.

Google: Local Favorites

Google wanted to launch a new program to recognize outstanding local restaurants and help more diners discover their next favorite spot. The only problem? Diners already turn to Yelp, TripAdvisor, UrbanSpoon, Angie’s List, and other more established products or programs for that kind of info. But those programs rely on reviews, which means one hangry Nance or riled-up Susan can tank a restaurant’s rating.

Google’s program still uses reviews. But they also look at the cold-hard facts, like number of calls or direction requests on Maps, to find the places people actually love. And visit. My team at Grow turned that distinct difference into the star of our program, and helped brand #LocalFavorites in a way that celebrates the people AND the data behind 2019’s top spots. Along with the site and social content, we also sent business owners an awards package featuring their badges of honor. Cute, huh?

My Role: I worked with our internal team to help lead the development of the user experience of our site, along with key positioning language for the Local Favorites program. I also led the strategic and creative charge for a quick & dirty social campaign leveraging a variety of Google channels, like OG, Maps, Small Biz, and more. You can check out my favorite tweets here, here, and here. You can also see how we celebrated some of our 2019 winners on Facebook in this album.

Google Real Estate: North Bayshore

Imagine you’re part of Google’s Real Estate team. And you have a vision for a mix of offices, residential housing, shops, restaurants, and public open spaces that seamlessly connect people, nature, and places. Now imagine you’re a resident of North Bayshore, CA who’s only heard Google is bidding to take over your town. See the tension?

As Google continues growing in the Bay Area, it’s essential for them to communicate their real estate plans in a transparent, easy-to-access manner. Especially to concerned residents who have only heard misrepresented narratives. That’s why Google’s Real Estate team came to Grow. They had done their due diligence by collaborating with city and community representatives to build their plan, and needed to show residents that this vision is a win/win.

Our challenge was to distill the ideas behind complex legal and real estate plans into a friendly, approachable site — that also built support for the district-scale developments. So, we broke their vision into 5 main categories and helped visitors see the potential with gorgeous renders. It was also key to show how Google Real Estate’s guiding principles informed the strategy behind the vision, so we brought that to life with simple animations.

My Role:
As lead copywriter on the project, I read over 90 pages of interviews, plans, legal docs, and more to understand Google’s vision. Then, I worked closely with our internal strategy team and Google’s Real Estate leads to capture their message on a single-page site. I helped lead the UX and content strategy, before digging into writing (and rewriting, and rewriting…) the actual site. We were able to strike a conversational tone, while still accurately conveying the information concerned citizens came here to see.

Google G Suite: Business Value Calculator

According to a Forrester Consulting study, G Suite enables employees to work when and where they’re most productive. In fact, they found Google’s collaboration tools can save each employee up to 171 hours per year. But we’re not just talking time. Forrester also proved the efficiency boost could increase revenue by up to 2.5% and save 20% on IT remediation costs. Hello, holiday bonuses.

Google obviously wanted to spread Forrester’s findings to the CEOs, CFOs, and CTOs of the world. So they challenged Grow to create an easy-to-use calculator that would engage the busiest people in the world. Oh, and double as a lead-generation tool for their sales team.

So my team developed a calculator that isn’t really a calculator. Instead, we created a 6 question adaptation of the Forrester study that quickly estimates a business’s personalized ROI, NPV, and other financial acronyms after switching to G Suite. The experience incorporates interstitial animations along with quick teasers of your answers before revealing a downloadable set of numbers designed to convince your boss that G Suite would be amazing for your business.

My Role:
As UX & creative lead on the project, I directed our team to a solution that was professional, useful, and had a touch of Google magic. Plus, I doubled as the copywriter and only had to pull a few late nights. I was lucky to work with my brilliant design partner Landon Cooper, the super talented illustrator Lewis Hazen, and the detail-oriented Kim Coghill. This project was a favorite from last year because of the awesome team dynamic — from strategists and producers to our creatives and developers.