Design for new markets by a Google product designer

Emerging markets are varied but face universal challenges: low spec phones, connectivity, and localized content. Designing for the next billion users requires creators to reset their intuition, abandon the ‘hamburger menu’, carousels, and hover states, and begin to rely on the cultural considerations of new, non-technologically-savvy communities. This can easily be a limiting factor for experiences: new users will not search for hidden text by clicking or swipe photos horizontally: they may simply not know about these possibilities. What should design be like to anticipate the needs of new markets — the next billion users?

Together with Google product designer Jess Myra, attendees will design an experience or prototype of a service for emerging markets. They will create products for an audience that is just beginning to use the internet with mostly mobile devices and which does not have intuitive experience as a user.

Designers will learn to:

• Embrace cultural considerations as a source of inspiration

• Differentiate between western and universal design principles

• Reconsider semiotics, interaction paradigms, and visual affordances for ‘mobile only’ frontier markets

Interaction designers, visual designers, and product designers who are intellectually curious problem solvers with an open mind and who have a minimum of 2 years of experience are invited to participate.

To participate in the workshop attendees must:

1. Have experience prototyping in Sketch and Invision. Experience with designing for Android will be an advantage, because emerging markets will be focused on working with this platform.

2. Complete a homework assignment:
   Find an example of a mobile interaction you really enjoy. It must have at least three state / screen changes. Bring printouts of each step. Bonus: Screen capture / record flow that will be shared with the group.
   Example:

• I get notified of my friend mentioning them in their instagram

• I click the notification and see the pic my friend posted

• I see who else commented on it and notice a person I know but don’t follow

• I start following them and receive a notification that they followed me back

Jess Myra is a Product Designer designing for the next billion users at Google in San Francisco. Bringing a culturally empathetic perspective to the field of interaction design, Jess has lived and worked around the world and across languages in France, Japan, Sweden, and the Arctic. She believes the best experiences thrive in the space between insight and imagination.

The workshop will be held in English; spoken English is mandatory. Applications are accepted until September 7th. The Institute producer will contact each candidate after the close of the application period. Please contact workshop producer Maria at kutina@strelkainstitute.com with any questions.