Google: User Research
Prior to moving to my current role with Google, I worked on the rapid research team with Google Search. While I can’t share specific projects or findings, here are some details about my process and approach.
Google developed “rapid research” as a way to juggle the needs of both in-depth, formative research with more tactical, evaluative studies, analysis, and literature reviews.
With such a high volume of product teams and services, Google’s UX researchers needed support. The rapid research team acts as an internal consultancy offering one-week-long research sprints.
User Researchers across the company submit questions that need answering. At the end of their interaction with rapid research, they walk away with synthesized findings.
As a member of the rapid research team for Google Search, Assistant, and News, I uncover valuable insights through:
Usability studies
Intercept interviews
Focus groups
Diary study data analysis
Literature reviews
One of the unique methods developed out of Google’s rapid research team is the touring research van. We road trip across the country to ask all kinds of people what they think of Google’s products.
In October of 2019, I traveled to Portland, OR to conduct research. We parked outside in a high-traffic downtown area to conduct 15-minute intercept studies from our mobile UX lab.
Check out other features I’ve supported, like Google’s privacy settings and communication tools for families on the Assistant, on Google’s blog.