Google Apps Sign-up
Description
Project Date: Q4 2006 - Q1 2007
Google had developed a version of Gmail for enterprise customers called Gmail for Your Domain. As additional products were added to the suite, it became Google Apps for Your Domain and, eventually (with a lot of advocacy on my part), just Google Apps. There were several different flavors of Google Apps that catered to different audiences – a premium version with a per user fee for enterprise, a basic version for other organizations, and an education version. Each required their own slightly different flavor of sign-up, and it was important that each audience followed the proper flow.
The design challenge was to balance a number of complex requirements with a streamlined and simple sign-up experience. Given the complexity, and the fact that the target audience was administrators, it would have been easy to just slap a bunch of stuff together and launch it. One of our customers was so impressed by my sign-up process for Google Apps that he created the video at the right, called "Google Apps: On in 60 seconds."
Role
Led interface design and information architecture through several iterations and usability tests; devised major improvements to the process, working with engineers to trim away unnecessary steps; created an interface design that followed the visual guidelines for Google UIs; wrote the XHTML/CSS using lightweight and accessible code.
I also provided consulting and review services for the design of the current Google Apps sign-up process.