Google Reviews (An idea for an app): My first step as a newbie UX | UI Designer

Hello everyone!

The lockdown gave me some time to learn new skills and apply them on the way. With an increase in digital devices and dependency on mobile phones, the world is ever-evolving in this pandemic era!

I went online and picked up a skill that made me actually think and it still fascinates me. While there’s so much for me to understand in the journey of UX and UI both, I thought of designing an app that I-Wish-It-Existed’ after reading an article by Erik D. Kennedy on Learn UI Design blog. He has shared some amazing tips for beginners.

Freshers like me can read the article here.

I thought this would be a great way to practice what I learned.

So…

Google has always been a brand that fascinated me. And with so much more happening, this side project is only a tribute to their work.

Why Google Reviews?

First, you all have to understand that this is just an idea. It is not backed up by any conclusive research.

However, I had this idea because of three reasons:

1.

In my understanding, reviews and feedback play a crucial role for the brand and for the customer. In my country, there are tons of reviewers, influencers, customers across brands and services. But there’s no one-stop platform where I can quickly read those reviews or write about anything I like, be it any category (Kind of like on-the-go).

This means whether it is about buying a gadget, watching a movie or visiting a place; for each, I have to separately browse through different review websites, apps and e-commerce pages to make a decision.

And the result?

Endless search on the internet

Link clicks and multiple tabs

Delayed decision-making

2.

I get hundreds of emails and notifications in my Inbox from various brands asking me to leave feedback either from a recent visit to a place or a product I recently purchased/used.

But I hardly bother to check them. Do you?

The idea of opening the mail, clicking on their link, filling up details, and then filling up a form for feedback seems a lot to me when I know I have opened my mailbox for something important.

Not to mention, sometimes, these emails go directly to our junk folder or are marked as spam. So how does it help any brand, anyway?

3.

Google is the search engine giant. It has collected a lot of feedback and reviews about various services/products separately, whether it is their Google Play on Android or Google Maps or simple Search. But these happen in their respective environment.

The closest to this idea that I have seen in the past is Yelp. And we must not forget the long-standing battle between Google and Yelp about who is the better one at this business. However, Google has never experimented with something like this. Through this, I feel it gives Google a chance to create an ecosystem of trust that is managed by influencers and customers for the brands and services they like.

Hence, here is a small snippet of how the App may look and function.

Following are the key points I considered so that I don’t get lost in only the look and feel:

• The overall design is based on Google’s current UI across various products. Something that closely matches the brand guidelines.
• I have showcased only the key aspects of this App that I feel should be discussed. I believe there are thousands of other possibilities and design directions with which you all can help me. I am more than happy to learn those from you.

You may see the rough prototype of this app here.

Note: I do not endorse or work with Google or its partner firms. And I did this UI Project only to share my idea with you all, and Google is one of my most loved brands. The design doesn’t adhere to strict guidelines by Google, and I do not own any brand assets. The Google logo, fonts, icons and other aspects that may have been used are the copyright materials, and I don’t intend to use these for any commercial reasons.

Stock images are from Unsplash, Pixabay and Pxfuel. All names, titles and user information are completely fictitious and don’t have a resemblance to anyone, whatsoever.

Software: Figma

Font used: Roboto

Thank you so much for your time, guys! Hope you found this interesting. I would want to learn a lot more from you all. So please drop a comment or message me at rohanb2090@gmail.com.