Google Cloud Platform
Designing Cloud Firestone across two branded platforms
Launched in January 2019, Cloud Firestore quickly scaled to serve over 600,000 monthly active developers, powering apps used by more than 1.3 billion monthly active end users. This widespread adoption led to a remarkable 1:10 attach ratio to Google Cloud Platform, demonstrating its significant value and its role in scaling infrastructure for apps initiated on the Firebase console.
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Role
Product Designer
Date
2017 – 2019
The service is now in use by hundreds of thousands of developers.
A game-changing database solution for modern applications.
Highlights
I led the design strategy for integrating Cloud Firestore into both the Google Cloud and Firebase consoles, a complex undertaking requiring seamless functionality and consistent user experiences across two distinct platforms. To navigate this challenge, I partnered early on with a user researcher to conduct stakeholder interviews and establish shared goals, guided by the clear principle that customers shouldn't have to understand our org charts to effectively use Firestore and should experience seamless functionality on both platforms. Bringing alignment on a strategy involved building upon a shared PRD and business logic while implementing front-end components unique to each product's design system and design language.
Logo & Lockup System
Hands-on designed and produced branding concepts and animations to get buy-in across all stakeholders on both Firebase and GCP towards launch at Cloud Next'18.
A Novel Data Viewer
Spearheaded the design of the signature data viewer (patent approved) for browsing and managing the dataset including real-time indicators. The interface simplifies the interaction with the hierarchical data by providing multiple views to pivot and a persistent breadcrumb component.
Design System Collaboration
I drove a complex three-way design process involving the Firebase, Google Cloud, and Cloud Design System (CDS) teams. This required carefully balancing technical feasibility with critical user needs to ensure a successful integration. Recognizing that many necessary patterns were missing from the Cloud Design System (such as empty states and new user education), I successfully established a new contribution model for the design system team. My close collaboration with the design system team during this project ultimately led me to join their team, marking my foray into working on design systems at scale.
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