Blurring the lines between VIRTUAL AND PHYSICAL EVENTS
Google Atmosphere is a massive online live-event experience by the Google for Work team that leverages online tools for connecting and educating attendees. Though the initial intention was to create an online analog for their live-events and conferences, in 2016 they decided to further blur the lines between online and physical events with a redesign that incorporates physical location information / embedded maps, attendee registration and visual badge icons that inform users of the various types of talks (Keynote, Sessions and live Q&A modules) they can participate in during an event.
Having been involved with the project as a visual designer since it's inception in 2014, I was asked to re-imagine and re-architect the experience to support any combination of physical, online and "hybrid" events. Starting from conducting UX and user persona research, I lead the re-design up to final asset delivery of the redesigned platform. The many successes of this project led to adapting the hybrid event updates for not only Atmosphere, but also mirrored for the Google Cloud Webinars and Education on Air platforms. The web experience has now hosted hundreds of thousands of attendees in over 18 languages, with notable speakers including Michelle Obama, Sundar Pichai (Google CEO), Astro Teller (CEO of X), Levar Burton (Reading Rainbow), and Jill Biden.
