Android 12 + Pixel 6
Designed for you: experiences that move beyond the phone into a world of connected devices.
Design Lead
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2020
Shipped as part of Android 12 “Designed for you” and previewed at Google I/O; led the ambient computing surface across the OS.
Problem
A phone is no longer a single device. Buying one increasingly means buying into an ecosystem of screens expected to work together: TVs, laptops, cars, and wearables. Android 12 needed to feel deeply personal and adaptive on the phone while making those devices work better as one. The work centered on the ambient layer (the surfaces you glance at without fully engaging) and on how the phone reaches beyond itself to the devices and objects around it.
Approach
I led design for the experiences that move beyond mobile into ambient computing: a new ambient display, lock screen, and at-a-glance widget on the phone, and how the phone interacts with nearby devices like laptops and home devices. The direction rested on three ideas: bold and helpful, glanceable, and alive and adaptive across every screen.
Process
Bold & helpful
A more expressive, personal system that adapts color and motion to the user, so the phone feels made for the person holding it rather than configured by them.
Glanceable widgets
At-a-glance information surfaced on the ambient display and home screen, readable without opening an app.
Alive & adaptive
Experiences designed to scale and adapt across the device ecosystem, so the same information feels native on whichever screen is closest.
Outcome
Shipped as Android 12, “Designed for you,” with the ambient and adaptive experiences previewed at Google I/O. The work set a direction for how Android’s ambient layer extends past the phone to the devices around it.
Lessons
Designing for ambient, glanceable moments is mostly editing. The surfaces people barely look at have to show the right thing without asking for attention, which makes restraint harder than addition.