Case Study: Accessing Google Apps in a single place

Google is leading the mobile world with apps for general users. There are over 50 apps in the play store and AppStore, accessed with a Gmail account.

Problem

Google apps are being used by billions of users across the globe. Users find it hard to navigate between the apps at once, and it is hard to install all the necessary google apps into the device due to space constraints.

Some pre-installed applications are not required for a common user, but it occupies the space on their device & cannot be removed.

Goal

To design a single application where a user can simultaneously manage all the google apps of their choice, which improves the device’s performance and optimize the space.

Summary

I challenged myself by consolidating the existing Google apps, which billions of users use, into a single application called “Google AIO,” where the apps are converted into the application features.

It will be a handy application for all the users since all the required applications can be accessed without the installation.

My Role: UX Designer

TimeLine : 3-weeks

My Process

This project was started with an Idea spark in mind to access all the apps at once when I was navigating between chrome and youtube.

The process started with identifying the problems in the navigation and understanding Google’s existing design. Then I moved on to designing a solution, making it visually aesthetic and functional.

Research

Competitor Research

I did competitor research to get an idea of how they actually function and find out their services. I also made a note of all the apps which are used by a common user.

G-suite

G-suite(now Google Workspace)

• It's a collection of enterprise-based products offered by Google via a monthly subscription platform to streamline your business.
• We will need a company/institution's mail id which has a Gsuite subscription to get started.

Primary Research

At the heart of understanding the problem, there should be in-depth research to know the root of the problem. I did multiple rounds of user surveys with 3 groups of people

• a software employee
• a General user
• a business person.

Their main differences lie in their motivation towards using Google apps.

some of the user survey results

The key observations from the User research.

• 70% of the user find hard in navigating between the installed applications.
• 79% of users feel that apps fill their device space unnecessarily and want a clutter-free home screen.
• 41% of users tried to remove the un-used Google apps from their device.
• 85% of users tend to have a single application that saves their device space, choose their required Google applications, and easily navigate the apps.

Software employees and Business people want their work Profiles apps to be managed easily.

Define

I created a User Persona by consolidating the research and my heuristic learning to users' pain points.

Design

Challenge is to maintain Google’s app flow and to flow the Material Design Guidelines.

User Flow

Before going into user interface design, I made sure to polish the features and user interaction flow.

The following feature flowcharts describe the content strategy and user flow through the app, listing potential features that users may interact with.

user flow

Sketching

With sketching, I laid down a structure of the app and a foundation for the final solution. I started sketching different designs to cover all the scenarios.

paper & pen sketching

Style Guide

I tried to balance the visual and lay the foundation for Google’s brand and mobile applications.

design system

Logo Design

I designed a logo for Google AIO with all resolutions for easy handoff.

High Fidelity Mockups

After so many iterations of sketching, I started designing the high fidelity screens of the app.

Here I put some of the screens from the app’s primary actions — the home page for choosing google apps.

Home Page

All the app navigations take place from this page.

Features

• showing the weather at the top left corner.
• Account choosing at top right.
• The search feature at the bottom of the page for easy access with incognito mode.
• Easy App Navigations at the centre.
• Add other Google apps using the “Add App” feature.

App information Page

gets all the information about the app like the play store.

App info

Features

• Add to Home screen Feature, i.e., Adding the app to the Home Page of Google AIO.
• Open the App to use the app directly without adding it to the home screen.

Gmail App

The modified version of the Gmail app with some added features.

Gmail

Features

• The hangouts chat feature is incorporated into the Gmail app for easier access in the bottom navigation bar.
• Added Home Icon in the search bar for navigating back to the Home Screen.
• A Detailed settings Page with Account Choosing for viewing their emails.

Designing for the Work Profile Mode

A work profile is a separate area of an Android device for storing work apps and data.

At the same time, users retain privacy over their personal apps, data, and usage.

work profile management

Outcomes

• 50% decrease in the navigation time between the apps.
• 50% decrease in the Home screen Clutter.
• Easy usage of the Google Applications in a single place.

My UX learnings

• For complex UX problems, research is an eye-opener. It revealed unexpected information about the user and their behaviours.
• The process is essential. It gives you a roadmap to navigate through what can be a foggy route for a vast project. This is especially useful when you’re starting.
• Simplicity is a strength.

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