INFLUENCE & IMPACT WITH DESIGN THINKING •
GOOGLE MOTOMAKER

Webby Award Winner 2014 & 2015
Phone sales increased 42%

OPPORTUNITY

The MotoMaker phone and accessory customization app was the cornerstone of Google’s strategy to differentiate their phones from the competition. Recent trends around the personalization of clothing and wearables had influenced the overall business strategy - though this approach had not been validated with customers.

Given this was a novel direction for the company and the phone category, it was essential to understand the strength of the business strategy, and how to design an experience to meet those goals. And, given it was the cornerstone of Google Motorola’s phone and accessories strategy, it was crucial to get this right.

APPROACH & STRATEGY

Our team’s first goal was to understand hardware customization generally, and then the role of phone and accessory customization for customers so as to inform our business goals. Looking first at existing research, and then conducting primary research activities we began to understand the how’s of customization for our products.

From there we began to build a body of knowledge utilizing mixed method research activities to inform our design solutions. Once we had an initial concept in place for customizing products, we began working with customers using generative and evaluative research techniques like structured interview, concept testing, usability testing etc to vet first ideas.

Once we honed in on favorite models and features, I was able to create a preliminary strategy for our V2 of MotoMaker. We then turned it over to the visual designer and the design technologists and front end devs to build out clickable prototypes to shop around the org for buy off along with our trove of research.

With enthusiastic sign-off, we moved into development and then launched a successful v2. But we didn’t stop there - we continued to track UX metrics, and AB test improvements until we hit our sweet spot.

PROCESS & METHODS

Research & Strategy
Competitive analysis, Secondary research review, Contextual inquiry, Structured interviews, Mental model study, Concept testing, Usability testing, Customer journey mapping, Design Strategy, Product & Feature roadmap

Design
Storyboards, Wires, Prototypes, Design system, Visual design, UI/UX design

We started by examining what worked in similar products and platforms, including analyzing competitor products and reviewing current secondary research. Once we had some working ideas, we talked to customers to better understand their needs, known and unknown. First, we sent a survey to existing customers to learn about the hardware features they would like to customize. Then, we executed a mental model study to analyze how and why customers choose Motorola - and where and why the MotoMaker experience would fit into their shopping journey.

With the data from our mental model study, we created personas and journey maps. With these foundations in place, we created design prototypes and conducted concept testing with contextual inquiry to understand which features were most important to inform our UI.

Honing in on a final solution, we tested the usability of our app until we came to a very usable, pleasing solution. Finally, we updated our design system, finalized the final visual design and appearance, and began development of our hallmark experience for the Motorola phone and accessories ecosystem.

Guided by our insights and customers, we defined and executed an award-winning product and design strategy.