Project Overview
Google News is currently overshadowed by first-party news outlets and lacks the interactive appeal of its competitors. This project proposes integrating AI and interactive design to personalize content and foster ongoing user engagement through participation and conversation.
Roles
UX Researcher, UI Designer
Collaborators
Amy Lu, Flora Zhang
Timeline
2 months (2025)
Tools
Figma, Excel
“how might we use the power of Gemini and build off of the existing Google News to increase traffic and retention rates on the platform (and not just 3rd party news outlets), making it universally accessible and useful”
THE PRODUCT
Google News
To address the problem statement, my team devised solutions that are low-cost, low-effort, and highly captivating for multiple user groups.
3 main AI-driven features that I will highlight are:
Enable Sense-making
Support users in understanding complex news events through credible, context-rich presentation that encourages reflection and perspective awareness.
Drive Routine Engagement
Enable frequent, low-friction interactions with news that integrate naturally into daily routines and support social circulation.
Foster Global Awareness
Frame news within broader temporal and societal contexts to foster shared understanding and reinforce the civic role of news platforms.
To get a gauge of the news outlet industry and Google News’ current situation, we conducted research from numerous facets. Field research gave us context into users’ general news browsing habits. Competitor analysis gave us a glance on Google News’ current position in the market. User testing gave us deeper dive into how users interact with Google News specifically.
Research
Field Research
Based on both primary (questionnaires and interviews) and secondary (reviews and articles) research, we prioritized key user pain, desire, and expectation points, while also identifying reading habits, usage contexts, and audience characteristics.
Pain Points
Disruptive ads
Can’t follow fragmented content
Lack of personal relevance
Desire Points
Fast, efficient browsing
Multi-mode viewing
Interactive engagement
Expectation Points
Clear layout with visuals
More social features
Context-aware content adaptation
Research
Competitor Analysis
Because much of our first hand research revealed that general users received their news from a number of other news outlets, we decided to conduct a market analysis to have a better gauge of Google News’ placement within its industry. We chose the top 5 news platforms for a direct competitor analysis with Google News.
Google News
NY Times
Yahoo News
USA Today
ESPN
CNN
Platform Traffic
Content Diversity
Innovative Features
Interactive Features
AI Technologies
Personalization
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Direct Competitors
Indirect Competitors
Update Rate
Personalization Options
Spread Rate
Content Richness
Authentic
Credible
Holistic
Multi-faceted
Global News Platforms
Social Media Platforms
Short Video Platforms
Audio Platforms
Search Engine Platforms
11.92B
Twitch
1.15B
Passive Engagement
Influence-Driven Engagement
Active Engagement
1.28B
3.79B
TikTok
2.64B
Interest-Driven Engagement
Social Media Platform Traffic Rate Predictors
News Outlet Traits Between Platform Types
Competitive Features
1
Google AI
Google's Pinpoint, News consumer Insight, and Gemini leads its industry with strong personalization.
2
Visibility
Google is one of the leading companies in the tech industry, which may make increasing Google News traffic easier.
3
Ads
There are currently minimal ads in Google News.
Competed Features
1
More Engagement
How to increase initial interest vs. how to achieve continuous visits by fostering an active community.
2
More Customization
How to more creatively utilize Google’s AI algorithms for content relate to each individual user’s interest.
3
More Interactive
Extending engagement to beyond the platform, using a non-hierarchical systems (users have equal influence).
Research
User Testing
Though we had accumulated much data on general news browsing, there were minimal current users of Google News. Hence, we designed a 3-part user testing procedure to pinpoint habits, goals, and pain points of Google News users.
5
4
3
2
1
0
Top Navigation
Search Engine
Heading |Your Briefing
Weather
Headline Media Content
“Articles Media Content”
Article Text
Navigation Bar
Text
Text + Visual
Visual
Information Hierarchy Task: Elements Retained in Sketch
Navigation Task
Error
Hesitation
Exploring
Correct Action
Total
Time Spent
50s
30s
40s
40s
Frequency
4 (14.81%)
6 (22.22%)
5 (18.51%)
12 (44.44%)
27
Using the Search Engine
Time Spent
1s
78s
6s
3s
Frequency
5 (19.23%)
11 (42.31%)
1 (3.85%)
9 (34.62%)
26
Locating notifications
Time Spent
0s
21s
16s
18s
Frequency
4 (12.5%)
9 (28.13%)
6 (18.75%)
13 (40.62%)
32
Following CNN
Learnability
Efficiency
Memorability
Error Recovery
Satisfaction
Usability Test
Google News’ Caveats
1
Intentional Layout
Utilize layout by balancing attention-grabbing content with attention-grabbing spaces.
2
Increase Affordance
Prevent user errors by aligning interface design with user expectations and providing active feedback.
3
Increase Exploration
Instigate interest in users to explore the platform by providing convenient connections between screens.
Given the insights that were extracted from research, new features were developed based off of the original Google News platform that best fill in users’ needs and increase its competitiveness in the news outlet industry.
Wireframing
Re-organizing Google News
Third Party Article
Comment Page
History Page
Saved - Stories
Saved - Topics
Agree Page
Home Page
For You Page
Search Engine
Channel Page
FYP
FYP - audio
FYP - download
FYP - mute
Headlines Page
Audio Player
Playlist Panel
Customize Page
Global Page
Filter Panel
Location Panel
Calendar Panel
Channel Management
Personalization Panel
Setting
Profile Page
Download Page
Settings Page
Blocked Content
Personalization Page
Welcome Page
Article
Following
Home | For You
Search Engine
Home-Headlines
Home-Global
My Channel
Welcome
Community
Message Tab
Notification Tab
Comments Tab
PROTOtyping
AI-Embedded Search Engine
AI provides summaries with diverse news perspectives and popularity metrics for faster information acquisition and deeper insights.
PROTOtyping
Headline Flash Cards
Swipe through AI-generated flash cards to quickly grasp key facts and summaries from top news stories.
PROTOtyping
Global Tab
Discover the busiest cities at different times of the day by sliding the time dial.
Catch your latest piece of news with live updates down to the second.
Locate major events around the globe on the real-time map.
View specific articles by setting custom locations and dates.
Takeaways
This project strengthened my understanding of how AI can shape user experience at scale, beyond assistive features to system-level design decisions. I learned to balance human-centered design with business and branding constraints in an enterprise environment, translating research insights into product-ready concepts. This project reinforced my practice of integrating AI interactions in a thoughtful, more humanized manner to increase user engagement and retention.