Designing at planetary scale
High-impact contributions across Google Search
Google | Interaction Designer | 2024 onwards
What I do
At Google, I’m part of the Search Design Systems, where I create and manage core patterns that define the essential elements of Search. This includes all the displayed elements users see on the results page before they click through.
It is one of the most viewed interfaces on the web, so every change must scale effectively, load swiftly, and achieve high clarity.
In this role, I team up with Search and AI teams, as well as verticals like Weather, Flights, Ads, Sports, Shopping, etc.
If it’s up on the results page, I’ve likely contributed to it.
I focus on crafting consistent, accessible, high-quality interactions that keep Search seamless and unified across uses.
Over the past year, I’ve contributed to key projects like refreshing mobile modules, improving desktop performance, designing for 200% zoom, and building tools to identify internationalization issues upfront.
Each project called for rapid decision-making (typically in under 24 hours), systems thinking, and tight-knit teamwork.
What follows is a glimpse of those efforts.
Modernizing Mobile Modules
Overhauling essential mobile modules to deliver a cohesive, modern look and updating experience for millions, partnering with engineers to ensure zero performance loss.
The project effort focused on shifting popular mobile Search components, such as dictionary, time, and weather to a modern design framework.
The modules saw heavy use but were built on obsolete styles and guidelines that had fallen out of sync with the broader platform.
My objective was to align these interfaces with the current design language while maintaining a unified, intuitive, and easy navigation experience.
What I delivered
As the lead designer, I transformed strategic goals into a seamless top-tier user experience, prioritizing quality and performance.
My approach emphasized effective execution and strong cross-functional collaboration:
I led the redesign, creating a flexible visual language for the modules that fit Google’s modern design framework.
I collaborated closely with engineering to tackle technical hurdles, deliver flawless implementation, and ensure no effect on Search’s load speed.
Collaborating with my PM, I crafted the testing strategy and monitored critical engagement and performance data throughout the gradual rollout to validate the new designs.
Updating the visual language while preserving clarity at scale.Why it mattered
Shipped to over 500 million users with no negative impact on performance or engagement.
The new framework cut design and engineering effort for future migrations by 40%.
The design patterns I created create long-term, ongoing impact.
Responsive Desktop Design
Crafting dynamic designs for critical Search modules for desktop, creating a consistent experience for millions across all screen sizes.
Google’s desktop Results Page lacked complete responsiveness. Over 10% of users on diverse screen sizes and densities encountered cropped content modules, resulting in a flawed and frustrating experience. I was tasked with designing an adaptive solution for these critical components.
Designs for a wide range of screen densities.My role and approach
As the lead designer for this initiative, I was responsible for the end-to-end design execution, ensuring that our most important content was accessible and usable on any desktop screen.
Designed responsive layouts for a set of pre-identified, high-traffic modules, using Google's design system to ensure consistency.
Championed accessibility and internationalization, working through complex challenges like right-to-left (RTL) languages and ensuring our designs met WCAG standards for all users.
Partnered closely with engineering to define breakpoint logic and ensure a robust, flexible implementation that worked across countless screen variations.
Working with my PM, I monitored key usability metrics post-launch to validate that the new responsive layouts were successful and had no negative impact.
Inclusivity at scale
To strengthen product quality worldwide, I examined Google Search interfaces for accessibility and global usability potential.
My efforts targeted:
Enhancing designs for high magnification.
Securing seamless functionality in international languages.
Streamlining navigation with keyboards.
Addressing these aspects was critical to delivering a more inclusive experience for millions using assistive tools or non-English languages.
Vital accessibility fixes and designing an AI tool to tackle internationalization challenges proactively.
I built and rolled out fundamental accessibility fixes, establishing guidelines for 200% zoom, understanding and designing for unique internationalization needs.
I determined that internationalization challenges, were an opportunity to refine our processes.
To fix this at scale, I pitched an AI-driven tool to automatically detect internationalization layout errors.
I joined forces with engineers to define the model’s results and documented it to fit into our review system.
Designs to ensure inclusive experiences for non-en usersResolve the most pressing issues users encounter.
At the same time, build a scalable solution to keep these problems from recurring.
My approach
I scoped and initiated comprehensive documentation for scalable designs, focusing on spacing, token use, and multilingual edge cases to equip teams in creating resilient layouts from the outset.
Designing for visually unique text and colors
Updating the visual language while preserving clarity at scale.
Why it mattered
The accessibility updates fixed numerous identified problems, improving usability for those relying on zoom, keyboard navigation, and screen readers.
The AI tool’s pilot phase flagged hundreds of i18n issues before release, demonstrating its value for a larger rollout.
The design patterns I created were integrated into Google Search’s official design system, raising the quality benchmark for all future projects.