Google x SCADpro
ROLE
Project Manager
Interaction Designer
SETTINGS
10 Weeks, FALL 2020 - Virtual
Sponsored by Google Accessibility Team
TEAM DYNAMIC
15 creatives
10 majors, 6 backgrounds
00-Overview
Google Accessibility Team collaborated with SCAD to develop artifacts that showcase the tremendous impacts of inclusive design and what it means to “design for everyone”. I was attracted to the project because of being an asian and in a minority group, I deeply understand what it likes when someone is being excluded. I decided to take on the challenge and virtually lead an amazing team to take one step closer toward an inclusive world.
01-The Challenges
How might we convince product teams to pilot an inclusive design project?
Constraints on SCAD teams:
Fully Virtual Course
Communication
Constraints on Google:
Rapid Buy-in
Cost & Competing Priorities
Recognizing Exclusion
02-Initial Research
The team was super lost at the beginning of this project because we did not know where to start. Therefore, I had to do a lot of research on my own to narrow down different directions we could pursue. I wanted the team to take a step back and look at this problem holistically, so I divided the class into 3 small teams to reach out to people from 3 groups: grassroots, organization, and leadership.
We conducted 20 interviews through video calls, gather over 120 survey responses which gave us over 816 data points to analyze.
KEY INSIGHTS
💬 Stories and Datas
Emotions from stories play a key role in order to get people’s interest in inclusive design. However, it has to be followed by actual data and numbers that connect directly to the team existing OKRs/goals
📊 Lack of Resources
Inclusive design information can be broad and conceptual which lead to confusion when Google employees want to research on inclusive design.
💪 Motivation
Teams don’t often feel motivated to start inclusive design projects or stay motivated throughout. Lack of motivation is caused by not aware of inclusive design application within the context of the team
My first time affinitize and analyze insights virtually through Miro
04-Final Solution
Despite many communication challenges, it was essential for me as a leader and a designer to always try to understand both sides of the discussions as well as using the insights we have gathered as a team to guide our solution and fulfill the goals that were given to us.
Google Reach
Google Reach is an inclusive design incubator centered around empowering and amplifying the voices of “unheard” users as well as provide Google designers seamless access to inclusive design information. This huge goal will be achieved through ReachMe and Reach Everyday
ReachMe
ReachMe is a hub that can be utilized to share and store touching stories from real users across the world. This hub is available to both Google designers and the general public, acting as a channel of communication and connection to embody the values of inclusive design.
👇 Below is Kelly’s story, one in millions that ReachMe would receive 👇
Reach Everyday
Reach Everyday is an internal chrome plug-in that seamlessly integrates with an employee’s workday to provide inclusive design learning experience. The plug-in achieves that by providing handy snippets of inclusive design information on every new tab that is opened.
We want to redefine learning
Learning can sound intimidating and time consuming for our busy Google designers. Therefore, we dedicated hours of designing to make the experience subtle and hardly taking up any of their valuable time. Inspired the idea of a vending machine, an object is easy to spot and conveniently provide happy snacks to consumers, we want Reach Everyday to do the exact same thing under 4 different types of interaction: Daily Topics, Pop Quiz, Collection Card, and Googler’s Stories.
Daily Topics
Everyday, a random topic related to inclusive design is picked for the users, and further information snippets are provided based on that. These appear on everyone new tab that is opened.
Pop Quiz
Pop quizzes test a Googler’s inclusive design knowledge, and provide feedbacks for the reasons their choice is wrong or right. This allows users to stay motivated and reinforce the learning experience
Collection Cards
A set of cards that consists of stats and tips related to inclusive design, as well as videos fro, the ReachMe hub. These information is perfect for Googlers because it doesn’t require them to step away from their work.
Googler’s Stories
Googlers can also share their own experiences on how working with inclusive design benefited their team and the users. Showcasing these stories is a great way to sell and promote inclusive design culture.
05-Reflection
Taking on the role as a Project Manager to lead such a diverse team virtually was definitely rewarding but with many challenges. It was important for me to find the balance between voicing my ideas as a designer and advocate for others as a leader. Our differences often led us to disagreements but it forced us to adapt to each other and find the common language. At the end of the day, we all have the same goal which is changing the world to be more inclusive and make real impact on humans.
Feel free to contact me if you are curious to learn more!
