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Google Pixel Buds
Google Pixel Buds have high-quality sound, an unobtrusive design that fits securely and comfortably in your ear, and helpful AI features. Whether you are streaming content while working out or sitting in a noisy room talking on a conference call, they provide the best possible audio experience.
Skills
Product strategy, interaction design, visual design, user research
Deliverables
Hardware product, embedded mobile app, out of box experience, product specifications
My Role
I joined the small Pixel Buds team in March 2019. Part Google Hardware’s UX team, we worked as liaisons between the industrial design team and other product groups within Google. While significant progress had been made on the hardware when I joined, I took the opportunity to define, spec, and ultimately ship integrated software experiences for the product.
Made by Google to be your most helpful, comfortable, and portable everyday earbuds.
So what did I do?
Due to confidentiality, I can’t share detailed UX documentation. Here are the highlights:
Product Strategy & Alignment
With such a large organization, it is challenging to align with teams across Google involved with the product. I partnered with the product management team to build, maintain, and share a plan of record document across the company.
I also worked closely with the Fast Pair, Android, Translate, and marketing teams to make sure features and assets were aligned.
User Experience Research
Our team works in direct collaboration with the human factors and UX research team. I supported several studies for the out of box experience, comfort/fit, and software features.
Additionally, I independently ran a concept evaluation diary study through dscout to better understand headphone usage for an ML-based software feature.
Visual Design & Creative Direction
Working with Google’s Material Design standard, I created the visual design specifications for the Pixel Buds companion app.
In addition to redlining screen layouts, I identified, scoped, and managed an agency that created the animated illustrations that appear within the app’s onboarding experience.
Experience UX Design
I created the interaction specifications for how the Google Translate integration would work on the device. I defined flows across hardware and software, reviewed with cross-functional stakeholders, and worked with user researchers to test our assumptions.
This includes adding new functionality to thePixel Buds companion app.
I was the design lead for Attention Alerts, the first embedded ML feature on a wireless headphone. I ran user research and designed the user interactions for audio, hardware interaction, and mobile app controls.
Announcement & Launch
Pixel Buds were announced in October 2019 and released in April 2020. Read more in the Google Keyword Blog.
Buy them now in the Google Store.
