Google Marketing Platform
Crafting a united marketing ecosystem
Product Design Brief
The primary objective of the Google Marketing Platform (GMP) initiative was to seamlessly unite Google's disparate ecosystem of marketing tools into a true platform solution.
The GMP initiative was launched to unify the product experience of over eight marketing tools within Google’s marketing ecosystem, crafting them into a comprehensive platform experience that prioritized cross-product use cases.
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Unified Experience: Develop a consistent and unified design language across the GMP suite, ensuring a cohesive visual experience and strengthening brand identity.
Information Architecture: Streamline navigation and optimize information architecture to improve usability and efficiency for marketers accessing different tools within GMP.
Product Integration: Design user-friendly integrations between GMP products, enabling marketers to seamlessly move data between tools and unlock advanced workflows, in accordance with admin consent.
Global User & Account Management: Design a management system for admins to easily add, remove users and set privileges for account access to view and edit.
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The target audience for GMP included (1) marketers, (2) advertisers, and (3) business professionals who utilized digital marketing strategies and Google’s tools to drive growth. The initiative was set to cater to both novice and experienced users, providing a seamless experience for all skill levels.
Marketers
Seasoned marketers with extensive experience in digital advertising campaigns. Working for a medium-sized e-commerce company and is responsible for managing and optimizing multiple marketing channels.Goals: Streamline marketing efforts, analyze campaign performance, and make data-driven decisions to drive revenue growth.
Pain Points: Challenges in navigating between different marketing tools, analyzing data across platforms, and integrating various marketing channels efficiently.
Needs: A unified platform like GMP that offers seamless integration between marketing tools, intuitive data visualization capabilities, and robust reporting features to enhance decision-making.
Advertisers
Specialists working for a digital agency. Manages advertising campaigns across multiple clients and platforms, including search, display, and social media.Goals: Streamline campaign management workflow, optimize ad performance, and deliver impactful results for clients within advertising budgets.
Pain Points: Switching between different advertising platforms, manually analyzing campaign data, and ensuring effective budget allocation across channels.
Needs: GMP as a centralized hub for managing and optimizing ad campaigns, seamless integration with major advertising platforms, automated data analysis, and budget control features to maximize advertising effectiveness.
Small Business Owners
An owner who handles marketing activities for their own company. Limited experience in digital marketing but understands the importance of establishing an online presence and reaching target audience effectively.Goals: Gain a better understanding of digital marketing strategies, increase brand visibility, and generate leads for the business.
Pain Points: Overwhelmed by the complexity of digital marketing, challenges in selecting the right tools, and lack of expertise to interpret marketing analytics effectively.
Needs: GMP as an easy-to-use platform with guided onboarding, simplified workflows, educational resources, and user-friendly analytics dashboards to navigate the world of digital marketing and achieve business goals.
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The success of the design initiatives within the GMP project will be measured based on user feedback, increased user satisfaction, improved usability metrics (such as task completion rates and efficiency), and successful integration and adoption rates of the platform's features.
My Role
During my time on the Google Marketing Platform (GMP) project, I held dual roles as Platform Design Lead and Design Manager, overseeing both the strategic direction and management of the design team.
With a focus on unifying Google's marketing tools into a cohesive platform, I leveraged my expertise in design leadership to guide the team, foster collaboration, and drive the successful execution of the project.
Platform Design Lead
As the Design Lead for the Google Marketing Platform (GMP) project, I assumed a hands-on role in shaping the user experience and visual design of the platform. My duties and responsibilities covered a wide spectrum as can be seen below.
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Vision Development: Developed a comprehensive vision for the GMP initiative from a product design perspective, considering both long-term and short-term goals.
Collaboration & Alignment: Collaborated closely with cross-functional teams, including product managers, engineers, and stakeholders, to align the design vision with the overall strategic objectives of the GMP project.
User-Centered Approach: Leveraged a user-centered design approach to ensure that the design system met the needs and expectations of the target audience, promoting a seamless and intuitive user experience.
Design Advocacy: Acted as an advocate for design excellence, promoting the value and importance of user-centered design principles and advocating for the adoption of the design system across the GMP product team.
Design Manager
As a Design Manager overseeing the GMP initiative, I embraced the responsibility of guiding the strategic aspects of the project and leading a talented team of designers. Together, we shaped the platform direction and many specific details of each product within.
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Strategic Leadership: Guided the thinking of my team of talented designers, aligning our efforts towards a compelling product design strategy that could be effectively communicated and understood cross-functionally.
Collaboration & Alignment: Fostered a culture of collaboration and facilitated alignment among stakeholders, enabling seamless cross-team collaboration. By connecting various teams, we overcame challenges and delivered a unified product experience in alignment with the overarching vision.
Team Management & Mentorship: Built and led a high-performing team of designers, nurturing their professional growth and fostering a positive work environment. Empowering autonomy and ownership, I ensured the team's success by providing mentorship and supporting their individual development.
Project Management Excellence: Oversaw project resources, timelines, and deliverables, ensuring efficient project management and successful outcomes. By leveraging strong project management skills, I ensured that our team delivered on-time and met the project goals.
Design Strategy
As the Design Lead for GMP, I crafted a two pillar product strategy to maximize the intentions of the initiative and to provide a lens for the product teams to rally around.
Seamless Integrations
Objective: Create a seamless integration experience within GMP, enabling marketers to effortlessly connect their tools and workflows.
Approach: Employ intuitive cross-tool linking, unified navigation patterns, and consistent terminology to establish a cohesive and interconnected ecosystem. Streamline data transfer and synchronization between tools, minimizing manual effort and enhancing productivity. Implement customizable workflows and contextual information sharing to ensure a smooth and uninterrupted user journey.
Expected Outcome: A seamlessly integrated platform that empowers marketers to effortlessly switch between tools, access and utilize relevant data across workflows, will result in a higher level of user satisfaction while improving product awareness.
Pillar 1
Unified Navigation
Objective: Streamline user navigation within GMP, enabling marketers to seamlessly move between tools and workflows.
Approach: Develop a unified navigation system that provides consistent access to different product areas. Implement intuitive information architecture and menu structures that reflect user mental models and enable efficient task completion. Simplify tool-switching by integrating common functionalities and providing contextual links. Focus on clear labeling, visual cues, and efficient search capabilities to enhance discoverability and reduce friction in navigating GMP.
Expected Outcome: With an improvement in user efficiency and reducing cognitive load, resellers should be able to win critical sales over market competitors.
Pillar 2
Branding Design
The branding design within the Google Marketing Platform (GMP) project played a critical role in creating a comprehensive unification of the marketing products, alleviating market confusion surrounding Google's diverse marketing tools.
Prior to the unification efforts, there was significant market confusion surrounding Google's array of marketing tools, resulting in fragmented user experiences and a lack of cohesive messaging. The branding design initiative within GMP aimed to address this challenge by crafting a unified brand identity that provided clarity and a sense of consistency across the suite of tools.
Before
The design challenge for the Google Admin Console was to create a user-friendly and intuitive interface that allows administrators to efficiently navigate and manage the complex array of administrative features.
After
A cohesive visual language, including color schemes, typography, and iconography were able to establish a brand identity that represented the unified nature of GMP. This branding effort not only communicated trust, innovation, and excellence but also aligned with the broader Google brand, fostering recognition and familiarity.
Design System
At the heart of the GMP project, my team and I recognized the need for a cohesive design system that was scalable to tackle the design challenges across the diverse range of products within the GMP platform.
This design system became a powerful tool in solving both broad and detailed design problems. We focused on a molecular design approach that addressed layout, interaction and styling.
Platform Headers
Before the introduction of the Google Marketing Platform (GMP), each product experience relied on a range of different header designs, causing inconsistency and fragmentation. However, the GMP initiative revolutionized this by implementing a universal and centralized approach, harmonizing the product experience across all applications within the platform.
Platform Menu
The GMP menu was added into the header of each product in the platform. This afforded users to switch between the various platform tools without having to open a new browser window. It also allowed for a marque presentation of the GMP logo and affordance to learn about marketing tools that the user hasn’t discovered yet.
Details Page
Prior to the GMP initiative, every product had it’s own details page design. The GMP design system outlined and canonized how details page should be presented in terms of layout, typography and interaction.
Products that utilized this pattern:
Google Analytics
Google Tag Manager
Google Optimize
Google Data Studio
Inspector Panel
Some products within the Google Marketing Platform needed a consistent inspector panel for both edit and view purposes. The GMP design system addressed all the nuanced variations of this standard panel, including button layout, margins, settings arrangement and actions.
Products that utilized this pattern:
Google Data Studio
Google Sebelius
Picker Slider
This slide-over panel was created to address an essential use-case where a list of entities are presented to choose from while also offering an affordance to create a new entity or even edit an existing entity before choosing.
Products that utilized this pattern:
Google Analytics
Google Tag Manager
Google Optimize
Google Data Studio
Half Slider
Similar to the Picker Slider, this half-sized version focused on “type” picking instead of “entity” picking. Without the need to present attributes in a table, a list view layout gave way to its compact size that also allowed for differentiation from the larger picker.
Information Architecture
In the process of redesigning the information architecture, our focus was on creating an intuitive and easily accessible top-level presentation that prioritized the core entities.
Throughout the Google Marketing Platform (GMP), we identified the most common entities to be Accounts, Containers, Users, and the corresponding privileges associated with each of these entities. With this understanding, my team of designers diligently worked to surface these core entities, along with the secondary entities, in a comprehensive and user-friendly manner.
The introduction of the new navigation system enabled users to effortlessly navigate to any entity throughout the platform with just a few clicks or taps. Existing users appreciated the expedited workflows, while UX research revealed that new users experienced less difficulty in adopting new products and acclimating to the platform.
Impact & Success
The Google Marketing Platform (GMP) has made a significant impact in the digital marketing landscape, empowering businesses to plan, execute, and measure their marketing strategies with exceptional efficiency and effectiveness. Since its launch, GMP has achieved remarkable success, leading to notable outcomes and impressive metrics:
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Increased Conversion Rates: Marketers using GMP have reported up to 30% increase in conversion rates through optimized targeting and personalized messaging.
Improved ROI: Businesses leveraging GMP have experienced up to a 40% improvement in return on investment (ROI), driven by enhanced campaign management, streamlined workflows, and data-driven decision-making.
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Time Savings: GMP has enabled marketers to save up to 25% of their time by providing a unified platform, eliminating manual data transfers, and automating repetitive tasks.
Streamlined Workflows: Marketers utilizing GMP have achieved up to a 40% reduction in workflow complexities, allowing teams to focus on strategic initiatives and creative ideation.
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Actionable Insights: GMP's advanced analytics capabilities have helped marketers uncover valuable insights and trends, resulting in up to a 35% improvement in data-driven decision-making.
Enhanced Reporting: Businesses leveraging GMP have benefited from up to a 50% reduction in time spent on reporting, thanks to customizable dashboards and streamlined reporting features.
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Growing User Base: GMP has experienced a steady increase in its user base, with over 50,000 businesses adopting the platform to date.
Positive User Feedback: GMP has received an average user satisfaction rating of 4.5 out of 5, indicating high user engagement and positive feedback on its capabilities.
These metrics demonstrate the measurable impact and success of GMP in enhancing marketing performance, increasing efficiency and productivity, driving data-driven decision-making, and gaining strong market adoption. With its impressive results and industry recognition, GMP continues to be a leading platform for businesses aiming to optimize their marketing strategies and achieve impactful outcomes.
Key Learnings
As the Design Lead for the GMP project, I had the privilege of being at the forefront of this transformative initiative. Throughout this journey, I gained invaluable insights and experiences that have shaped my understanding of design and collaboration. Here are the key learnings I took away from the GMP project:
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A major learning for me was the significance of building bridges across product areas and fostering collaboration. Working closely with Engineering, Product Management, and Design teams, I witnessed firsthand the power of cross-functional collaboration. By aligning our efforts and effectively communicating, we were able to create a unified platform that seamlessly integrated various marketing tools. Building strong relationships and fostering collaboration were vital in achieving our shared goals.
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Another significant learning was the impact of a unification project like GMP in creating a cohesive story in the market. Through the consolidation and rebranding of diverse marketing tools, we presented a comprehensive and unified solution to the market. This cohesive narrative resonated with users, driving adoption and appreciation for the total solution. It reinforced the importance of conveying a consistent and compelling message to create a strong market presence.
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The GMP project taught me the value of an iterative roadmap in successfully executing a large-scale initiative. By breaking down the project into manageable phases, we avoided becoming overwhelmed and fostered collaboration across cross-product teams. The iterative approach allowed us to gather feedback, make refinements, and adapt our plans as needed. It provided us with the flexibility to navigate complexities and maintain a steady pace toward our goals.
These key learnings have deeply influenced my approach to design and collaboration. They have taught me the importance of building bridges, creating a cohesive narrative, and embracing an iterative mindset. As I continue to embark on new projects, these learnings have guided me in fostering collaboration, delivering cohesive experiences, and navigating complex initiatives. The GMP project has been instrumental in shaping my growth as a design leader and as a collaborative team member.
