VM

— Google Hackathon

Designing for Google Accessibility


— ROLE

UX/UI Designer


— DATE

October 2022

I had the opportunity to participate in a Google 24-hour hackathon with a team of 3 UX designers, 1 data scientist, and 2 software engineers.


Our team created a solution around providing accessibility through one of Google’s most used apps today, Google Maps.

The Challenge

Google asked us: How might we leverage digital solutions to provide equal access to people with disabilities to resources and information?

View the low-fidelity wireframes here.

View the high-fidelity/handoff wireframes here.

Swipe to view our design enhancements which provides further accessibility.

Key Learnings

  1. Collaboration is key: During the hackathon, we learned that collaboration is essential when designing a product that is accessible to all. Working with engineers and a data scientist allowed us to combine our individual skills and experiences to create a more well-rounded solution which Google was looking for.

  3. User-centered design is critical: It’s essential to keep the user at the center of the design process, especially when designing for accessibility. Understanding the needs and challenges of users with different abilities helped us to create more inclusive solutions.

  5. Accessibility features must be integrated seamlessly: When designing for accessibility, it’s essential to ensure that the features are integrated seamlessly into the product. This means that the features should not interfere with the overall user experience or disrupt the flow of the product.

  7. Discovering strengths: When you get to work in a group with other designers, engineers, and data scientists, you slowly start to figure out your strengths and areas to focus on as we only have 24-hours. For me, I discovered that the UI process was one strength for me in these 24-hours.


Next Steps


  2. Leverage existing technologies to improve the accessibility guide: With more time and access to data, we will be able to leverage more of Google’s existing technology to further improve our accessibility guide.

  4. Conduct more user testing: It’s important to conduct more user testing with a diverse group of users to gather additional feedback and insights.

  6. Implement the design changes: Based on the feedback gathered from testing, it’s essential to implement the necessary changes to make the product more accessible.

  8. Document the design process: Documenting the design process and the insights gained during the hackathon can be helpful for future reference and for sharing with other designers and developers.

  10. Continue to prioritize accessibility: Moving forward, it’s important to continue to prioritize accessibility in all product designs and to ensure that it is an integral part of the design process.