Hey Google!
Read time:
6 min
Company:
Industry:
Tech
Start: Sept. 2022
End: Apr. 2023
Duration:
9 months
During my senior year at the University of Michigan, the UX Team at Google partnered with our university to explore how Google Assistant could better serve college students. I was selected as one of four students to lead the research and design effort. Through surveys, interviews, and affinity mapping with 50+ students, we uncovered a clear insight: students relied on Canvas daily but found it frustrating, and none of Google's competitors had tapped into it. We designed a Canvas integration for Google Assistant, and after a single prototype session, student interest jumped from 4/10 to 8/10.
My Role
As one of four student researchers and designers, I contributed across every phase of the project. I led competitive analysis, designed and distributed surveys, conducted user interviews, then helped synthesize findings into affinity maps and personas. From there I contributed to sketching, wireframing, and building the final high-fidelity prototype in Figma.
Problem
College students were using Google Assistant far less than career professionals, and were choosing Siri over Google Assistant at a higher rate. Google wanted to understand why. The question we set out to answer was simple: how can Google Assistant better fit the lives of college students and attract more college users?
Graphic is not exact to market share and is for illustrative purposes only.
Research
Five research methods across 50+ students to understand how Google Assistant could fit into student life.
Click any phase to explore
Solution
The solution centered on four Canvas integrations, each addressing a different student need: checking assignments due today, checking assignments this week, sending an absence email to a professor, and setting a daily reminder.
Every student we spoke to used Canvas daily but found its notification system unreliable. None of the competitors, not Siri, not Alexa, had tapped into it. That was the opening. Integrating Canvas gave Google Assistant a unique edge and gave students a real reason to use it.
From rough sketches to a high-fidelity prototypes.
Click a step to explore
Four Canvas integration scenarios sketched out by hand, each exploring a different high-frequency student use case identified through research.
Outcome
After experiencing the Canvas integration prototype, student interest doubled.
"If the assistant could connect to Canvas, I would say that will be helpful."
University of Michigan Student