Google Consent Experience
Enhancing design to create more transparency and trust with Google's userbase
Deliverables
High Fidelity Prototype
Low Fidelity Design
User Research
My Role
UX/UI Design
Low-Fidelity wireframing
Project Scoping
Timeline:
Class Project (11 Weeks)
Course: HCDE 301 (Advanced Communication in HCDE) @ UW
Tools: Figma, Photoshop & Miro
The Task:
To Redesign the consent experience for the brand you selected. Consider the implications of Privacy Disclosure, Terms & Conditions, and consent best practices.
Google's vision is to provide access to the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful, which ties into the belief that all people should have access to knowledge. This was a partnership for our HCDE class in our Junior year. Over the quarter, we worked on developing working prototypes and consulting with one of our mentors from Google.
Design Question
How might we implement consent features and transparency to better build trust and readability in Google's consent experience for Gmail?
Design Requirements
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Attempt to satisfy standards for informed consent
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Must look like it belongs to your brand and include the logo (used appropriately)
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Include a link to the privacy policies and terms of use (unless you decide to show them)
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Have an affordance to accept or decline
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List the permission names and descriptions for data collected
Your design can be mobile. If you design for mobile, it should adhere to mobile design best practices for touch targets.
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UX Writing: clear, concise, and useful
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Plain language
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Tone and voice of your brand
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4-8 Figma screens showcasing the design and experience in either Low-Fidelity or Sketches and High Fidelity prototypes or a presentation.
Project Scoping
Based on the Design requirements put forth by my professor, I had to create a plan in order to best showcase my design and understanding of the prompt. We were also tasked with choosing two affordances (I had chosen readability and accessibility as mine). Based on the design requirements I made a comprehensive plan to complete the assignment.
Design Process
Based on my requirements in class and the affordances I chose, I came up with design areas that I wanted to address.
Language Use: Glossary and Simple Terminology:
Adding a glossary button with the language used in the entire consent experience.
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A glossary button to be available throughout the entire system for quick access
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Simple explanations in large colorized cards and font to be easy to follow. These cards can be expanded if needed to provide more information about each section of the Terms and Conditions.
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By using a larger font and creating a user flow to view all of the contents before clicking through the terms.
Design:
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Simple blocked font, and easy to follow/read hierarchy
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Using cards that will help aid user understanding and simple colors to make the experience more engaging.
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Have the ability to learn more and learn the language used in the terms and conditions pages
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These requirements will help create more transparency and also create more sense of trust in Google and its products that come with creating a Gmail account.
Ideation and Low-Fidelity Design
Using Google's existing framework, I worked with our mentor and TA to help guide me through a redesigned process. Using the knowledge we gained from prerequisite classes, I came up with an approach that would illustrate an interactive and accessible design.
In this session, using the detailed design requirements and language used in affordances I came up with a low-fidelity design to submit for my class. Given the assignment to develop 3-5 low-fi screens to showcase the design direction, I focused on having two sets of pages and having the idea of a modal confirmation window and a redesigned landing page when the user moves on from making their account.
Feedback
After the submittal, of the low-fidelity design sprint, we were given feedback from our peers. I received feedback into making more interactions between the glossary and also contents page. My peers also found the contents page to be redundant; given the cards might be a better way of organizing as sort of a subtitle list that goes over the contents anyway. This feedback was important to me as my design seemed to be a good idea as we are departing from being overly complicated but rather to be more fluid and accessible. Using my feedback from class I was able to make informed decisions on my high-fidelity designs.
Prototyping
Following the ideation phase, we began designing the features of our application. I created mid-fidelity and high-fidelity prototypes that met most of our desired features. This process was completed using Figma. Below are the prototypes that I created. I used notes from the class critique to help guide interactions and developing of the mid-fidelity design.
Mid-Fidelity Prototype
High Fidelity Prototype
Feedback
As I submitted these designs for the mid-term critique, I was given feedback before our final design. My in-class critique had positives and areas to improve on. After addressing many of the concerns from before, I was able to make new adjustments to my design. The overall design was met with positive feedback with many of my peers liking the design and color choices used. The color to many was very engaging, and made the information easy to follow. The additional feedback I got mainly pertained to small design choices, from making colors such as the glossary more consistent and also having an easier-to-read modal window. I was advised to create a simplified user flow.
Final Design
Below is the full interaction and final design that was created based on the recommendations developed in class. Based on the final interactions I did receive positive feedback from my professor, mentor, and teacher's assistant.
Reflection
Points of Growth 🌱
Looking back on the work completed over the last 11 weeks, the Google Consent Experience project has been a noteworthy success. Collaborating with a renowned tech giant and contributing to enhancing user privacy and transparency presented a unique set of challenges and opportunities
Challenges 💪
The journey was not without its challenges. One significant obstacle was the limited time frame for user recruitment, interviews, and co-design sessions. Encouraging users to participate and follow through with the process posed a notable challenge. Additionally, the project faced time constraints due to research phase delays, which impacted the available time for prototyping. However, the team's dedication and efficiency prevailed, allowing us to deliver high-fidelity prototypes within the stipulated deadline, resulting in a successful project outcome.
For Next Time 🤔
While this capstone project has concluded, the design of the Google Consent Experience remains an ongoing endeavor. Given more time and resources, our next steps would involve further refining the design, incorporating user feedback, and aligning it with Google's commitment to user privacy and transparency. Continuous iterations of the design would likely occur, driven by valuable insights gathered from user testing. Subsequently, the focus would shift to the development phase, where the newly designed Google Consent Experience would be implemented to benefit users across Google's ecosystem.
Thank you for reading 👋
While this class project has concluded, the design of the Google Consent Experience remains an ongoing endeavor. Given more time and resources, our next steps would involve further refining the design, incorporating user feedback, and aligning it with Google's commitment to user privacy and transparency. Continuous iterations of the design would likely occur, driven by valuable insights gathered from user testing. Subsequently, the focus would shift to the development phase, where the newly designed Google Consent Experience would be implemented to benefit users across Google's ecosystem.