Google Maps Live View

DESIGN RESEARCH FOR WORLD-SCALE AUGMENTED REALITY

UX RESEARCH lead, 2017-2021

I led research for Google’s first world-scale augmented reality experiences. In contrast to tabletop AR, world-scale AR is geographically specific, and can respond with high-precision to the users’ environmental context. Our team’s first feature, now available in Google Maps, is Live View walking navigation.

Live View won the 2020 Webby Award for Best User Interface and the 2020 People’s Voice Award for Best User Interface. It was also a Fast Company 2020 Innovation by Design Award Finalist in the categories of Mobility Design, Apps & Games, User Experience, and General Excellence, earned an honorable mention in Fast Company’s 2021 World Changing Ideas Awards, took Gold in the International Design Awards for Multimedia/Interface Design, and was named one of The Best Inventions of 2021 by Time Magazine.

My research in this space identified and articulated the universal human dynamics of spatial cognition, drawing from methods and analysis across the fields of psychology, geography, neuroscience, cybernetics, and urban theory. I developed new research methods for constructing knowledge and interrogating the possibilities of this emerging technology. By critically assessing the unique affordances of world-scale augmented reality against the fundamental mechanics of the human mind, our team developed innovative paradigms and groundbreaking interface solutions for the future of spatial computation.

You can learn more about our process of research, design, and engineering in the following video: