UX at Google

After 10 years of learning, sharing, growing, and launching amazing products, I was recently let go as a part of the mass layoffs at Google. It marks the end of a defining era in my career, one which I'll be forever grateful to have experienced. I had the pleasure of collaborating with and mentoring some of the absolute best designers, researchers, writers, engineers, PMs and PGMs. Since I was given no notice prior to the layoffs— and didn't make a habit of downloading work— I currently have no access to examples of my work during this period, but I'll do my best to explain what we achieved together over that time period...

Visual Design Lead: Gmail / Inbox (2013–2014)
My first project at Google was on the Gmail team, developing a new, experimental beta product called Inbox. It sought to redefine how we use email, by introducing a number of key features to help users better manage the barrage of emails they get every day. As part of a robust UX team of designers, prototypers and researchers, I collaborated with the (then) brand new Material Design team to develop the visual style for Inbox across mobile platforms and web. In 2014, Inbox was the first Google product to launch with the new Material Design system, and set many standards for dense UIs at Google.
Launched in 2014 as an invite-only experience, Inbox was received with much acclaim, achieving 100,000 active users and more than 1 million activation requests in its first 24 hours live. Its innovative design and features went on to become wildly successful, with more than 27 million users opting to use it over Gmail. Inbox was retired in 2019 and its most popular features (such as highlights, sweep, snooze, schedule send, and swipe actions on mobile) were eventually adopted by Gmail.

UX Designer and Manager: Verily Life Sciences (2014–2017)
After Inbox launched, I transitioned to (then) Google X to work on life sciences initiatives. After 6 months, this became an offical 'bet' and the Alphabet company Verily was created.
As the founding UX designer, I was heavily involved in the naming and branding of the company. As project scopes quickly expanded, I hired and managed the first UX team. As a group, Verily UX supported more than a dozen diverse initiatives, from assistive hardware devices and wearable sensors to surgical robots. We partnered with pharmaceutical giants, medical training facilities and medical technologists to bring new insights and ideas into the healthcare space.
I personally developed the UX architecture and visual design for the Study Watch. I created the branding and UX for many aspects of Project Baseline. I also supported the Liftware team as they launched a new product, through branding, packaging, quick start guides, product photography, illustration and complete website design.

UX Design Lead and Manager: Hardware AR/VR (2017–2019)
As a part of my research at Verily, I had the opportunity to try VR for the first time and the TiltBrush experience blew my mind. I knew right then, I needed to start learning 3D design because it would be an important to the future of interaction design. I started experimenting with Cinema 4D software and shortly after made a transition to the Immersive Arts team, a group of talented visual artists, designers and illustrators focussed on providing beautiful, engaging immersive content for various AR and VR initiatives. Here, I managed group of artists and designers while also contributing to the visual and UX design of project Starline. Specifically, I developed the UX flow for starting meetings, that included a 3D version of Google Meet's landing screen and some fun, interactive 3D experiences to play with while waiting for others to join the meeting.

UX Design Lead: AR Glasses (2019-2023)
Focussed on solving complex UX problems with little to no precedent, I spent my final 4 years at Google working on AR Glasses. In that time, I made critical contributions to developing the system UX/UI and input navigation; I owned the companion app design; device unboxing, setup and connectivity flows; as well as user-education and training; along with some other confidential initiatives. I feel I was plucked at the peak of momentum in this project, and I expect to see great things from that team.