Brief

Completely re-design a key tool through which Googlers obtain the information they need to be uniquely effective every single day.

Role

At Corporate Engineering for Google, I co-led the product team of one of the central information distribution tools of the organization, from discovery, conception, prototyping, testing, and UI design.

Outcome

Over six months, I re-envisioned my team’s product from the ground up and designed interfaces and micro services which every Google employee interacts with on a daily basis. Some of these tools have now found their way into consumer offerings such as Gmail.

At Google Corporate Engineering, I worked on delivering products and services that make Googlers uniquely productive throughout their workday. Together with my team of engineers, I applied established and experimental technologies to create products and features that make life at Google even more efficient, fun, productive and informative. 

Amongst other activities, I 

• Created concepts and ideas that are set to appear in consumer and enterprise products years in the future

• Led simultaneous work streams for complete redesigns and incremental improvements

• Collaborated on long-term strategy and helped set the product vision

• Conducted original research and lab testing sessions

• Worked to create a shared culture of inspiration and user-centricity through workshops and team events

• Collaborated on Design Sprints with other teams working on features such as the Gmail side panel.

During this project, soft metrics counted as much as traditional ones. When it comes to reshaping the way we work and consume information, efficiency can not be the only goal. While the outcomes of this project are confidential it can be said that many concepts I created went onto the screens and headphones of users and caused much positive feedback.

"Thomas joined our team at Google and brought great energy, passion and focus with him. Quickly ramping up on our challenge at hand, he helped us set up a well-suited and comprehensive product design process. With his creativity, visual and conceptual design skills and collaborative attitude, Thomas really brought the product and the team a big step forward Thanks so much for all your contributions!