As part of an ongoing series that highlights the work of Google employees, Ivy Ross recently shared some insights into her background, her design influences, and how she approaches the demands of her position with Google. For those not familiar with Ross, she leads the design team responsible for the hardware aspect of a variety of Google products including Google Home, Google Mini, Google Max, the Pixel laptop, and a variety of wearables.
Ross may have been destined to work on designing and making physical things thanks to her father who was an industrial engineer. He brought that work home – literally designing the house where Ross grew up – and infused his daughter with a love for physical item creation.
When it comes to her work for Google, Ross notes that one of the biggest challenges for the design team dealing with hardware is the fact that hardware cannot be fixed with an update or a new release if the team messes something up. This means Ross and her designers have to spend more time up front to make sure everything works as intended.
Ross says in the interview that one focus of her work is to make devices that appeal to humans. By that, she means they are “emotionally-appealing and easy to fit into your life and your home.” Ross thinks this will become even more important as people spend more time in front of flat screens and crave better experiences outside of that time. Ross says some examples of how this desire to appeal to sensory input can be seen in the fabric used in the Home Mini, Home Max and Daydream View along with materials used on Pixel phones and laptops.
Besides talking about some of the goals of Google and the design team when working on products, Ross also shared some insight into her inspiration and accomplishments. She says one of the most challenging products was the Home Mini, especially the construction of the fabric form. Although simple, it was hard to construct and Ross says this resulted in a nice achievement for the team. As far as inspiration, Ross says she spends her time looking beyond the world of electronics.
source: Google
