Building brand identity
Date: 2016 - 2020
Role: Head of UX and Design Director, Motorola Mobility
Work Partners: PM, ENG, Research, Marketing
Context
Motorola is known for being a mostly “pure” version of Android, so users aren’t really aware of customizations unique to Moto phones nor the value they bring. The redesign of the Moto App launched on the Moto G7 brought a refresh that transformed what had previously been a collection of settings into a highly visual, editorial style app providing quick tips and tutorials of the most important features.
Strategy & solutions
As Design Director, I drove the vision of the educational, brand-building app which required coordination across multiple product management and software teams. I encouraged my copywriter to assume a larger role in setting the direction of Moto, defining content strategy, and a roadmap for new categories and features to be included in the app. The new categories such as Tips & Personalize are driving increased engagement with the app and providing additional touchpoints for users to explore and learn about their device capabilities.
I also championed visual designers’ explorations of Lottie. Earlier investigations had encountered technical conflicts between the Moto app and earlier libraries, so I coordinated a proof of concept project with developers in Brazil, and then personally drove security approval with the legal team and negotiated Lottie integration into Motorola’s framework in order to be able to be used for core features in addition to apps. The design change from mp4 to JSON eliminated issues that were appearing because of different screen ratios, as well as display color acuity. It also resulted in significant space savings, which continued even as the dark mode was integrated.
During the redesign, my team's creative lead and a senior designer in Chicago developed mix and match illustrations of people, objects, and settings to complete a library for designers in any studio to easily build out illustrations as needed. The new system has not only elevated the look of the Moto app but created a cohesive feel throughout Motorola’s experiences.
Outcome
This app is an example of my passion for brand, craft, and design fidelity and one that showcases my previous design team’s close collaboration with research, cross-studio team members, product management, and engineering. In 2019, Moto won two Brazil Design Awards: People’s Choice, and Application Design. The redesigned Moto app is currently preloaded on all Moto G7 and later mid/high tier Motorola devices. As of August 2020, it had a 4.3 PlayStore rating, over 23 million active users, and was being used by 9.6 million users (with 2.21% growth over the previous month).
