Google

Grow with Google

A global initiative to help millions upskill and further their careers

Product Design Lead / UX / Strategist 2017-2019

Website

Grow with Google is a program designed to help upskill and further the careers of individuals and small business owners. It has expanded from a single digital marketing certification for solely Google products through to certification with hundreds of validated learning partners. As a product strategist for Grow with Google I had to drive the product strategy from a day one scenario.

I built prototypes to align the product vision and stakeholders, conductive extensive user research and led the design and development of the core product.

 

Grow with Google in partnership with Nest
Grow with Google in partnership with Nest

Problem Statement

Grow with Google was too inner focussed with the sole remit being a digital marketing course. To cater for learners and small businesses globally Google had to expand their course offering. This was no mean feat as the program had to scale to over 50 countries. Google couldn’t create content for such a vast audience – we had to work out how to evolve the GwG platform.

Ideation

The challenge we faced as a product team was that, while Google had significant resources, the scale of localising content across 50 regions for numerous expanding courses was unmanageable. We therefore began an extended product discovery phase, launching various experiments. These included a revamped mobile app (later discontinued), a profile builder using graph modelling and the O*NET skills matrix, and a collaboration with NESTA to explore machine learning for users to select a career and have an algorithm generate a tailored course pathway.

Validation

Our research revealed that users worldwide were eager for knowledge and continuous learning. We established a viable model by integrating partners into the Grow with Google (GwG) platform. Some courses remained within the GwG ecosystem, while others were owned by partners, with GwG guiding users to the right course.

The expansion of course pathways has been highly successful, with Google helping nearly 10 million US workers develop skills and careers since 2017. Certification was key, and the Google Career Certificate has become a recognised credential, validating users’ learning and supporting their career growth.