The UX of Google Classroom
Chatting with the design and research leads.
I had the opportunity to chat with two instrumental members of the team who work on the Google Classroom (GC) product. I am a former classroom teacher who used GC extensively and am now a product designer in the EdTech industry. Needless to say, this was a special conversation for me.
- Amanda J. Rosenburg: Team Lead and Research Lead
- Cora Foxx: UX Design Lead
The Topics
We chat about various topics, including:
- How to research and design for such a diverse pool of users globally
- Researchers considering self-care for the stories they carry (especially during the pandemic)
- How learning theory (academic research) and UX research work together
- Design process
- What’s new and on the horizon for the Google Classroom product
- Connecting teacher voice to product
- Resume and portfolio tips to work at Google (especially for those with an academic or educational background)
- Favorite resources for design and research
You can listen to the conversation here:
I also wanted to bring up four quick highlights that stood out to me during my conversations with Amanda and Cora.
Researchers considering self-care
Amanda really opens up about how important it is for researchers to take care of themselves so that they may come back day after day ready to empathize. Oftentimes, especially during this past year, the friction in UX reflects great challenges and pain occurring in education. UX Researchers are steadily navigating these conversations, collecting this data, and sifting through true pain points.
The freedom of designing within constraints
Cora discussed her design process and gave a fascinating description of how she approaches problems and projects. She describes working within Material Design and how using a system can free up the designer to work more quickly on the most important aspects of the problem.
Hunting down the teacher's voice
At one point in the conversation, I asked about how teachers (and other users) could reach out about concerns or feedback they have about the product. The list is long and I think this speaks to a wide net being cast that captures the voices using the product. Fellow researchers might find these methods particularly interesting. My favorite is the “?” located right inside the product and you can write feedback anytime and natively capture screenshots of what is happening.
“Teachers are people, too.”
I used to say this phrase jokingly with my students when we would chat about aspects of my life outside of work. Most of us have had those moments growing up when we encounter one of our teachers outside the context of school and it is so… weird! Teachers go to the movies and need to grocery shop, too?
Similarly, I found myself experiencing this with Amanda and Cora.
UX Researchers are people, too.
UX Designers are people, too.
Even at Google. Their struggles and experiences throughout the pandemic, their utmost respect for educators, and their deep sense of responsibility in building a product that influences classrooms globally — all of these aspects came shining through for me.
That is important because as a former teacher, I most definitely have had my ups and down with using the product. I championed Google Classroom amongst colleagues but also felt frustration on usability (especially during sudden pandemic school closures). I even wrote about some of this about a year ago. Any teacher (and student and parent) probably have helpful ideas and opinionated feelings around Google Classroom.
One pain point we felt last school year was around students taking pictures of their work. Ooof! It was a consistent challenge for students (and parents) to take a picture of their work to turn it in. I did a virtual UX workshop with a small group of students and we walked through the design thinking process and prototyped some solutions.
I was delighted to hear about a long list of upcoming features. For example, it was really neat to hear in these recent interviews more about the GC team’s decision to address this specific problem with the mobile photo feature.
I am more able to connect faces and people with the work that is being done behind new features.
All of this to say… this conversation has given me a fuller picture of the people and efforts that go into building Google Classroom. This conversation was a great look into the efforts that go behind the product that has touched so many classrooms.
I am constantly looking for examples and resources on how UX designers and researchers are doing their work in the EdTech space. Since shifting roles in education, I have really desired to bridge the gap between product teams and educators and students. These conversations were a great example of just that.
More empathy all around.
