Sofia Zhang

Challenge

How might we redesign Google Search to be more accessible, engaging, and age-appropriate for young children? Kids are naturally curious, asking endless questions about their world, but today’s search engines are not designed with them in mind.

This project set out to reimagine Google Search for kids, creating a tool that could be fun, safe, and educational. I worked with a team of Ed.M. students at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, co-desiging “Google Junior” as a concept for a kid-centered search experience. As the primary user researcher and interviewer on this project, I made efforts to understanding the specific needs of our young users by connecting with their everyday influencers: parents.

User Interview

My Role and Key Contributions
My role as the primary user researcher began with setting the stage for empathy. I started by conducting a user interview with Martina, the mother of a 10-year-old. My goal was to capture the essence of what a kid-friendly Google might look like by understanding her daily interactions, her passions and curiosities, and her frustrations with existing search tools.

Crafting Interview Questions

I crafted my questions to uncover the unique characteristics of this user, the specific pain points, satisfaction points, and wishes for an ideal search experience. Some questions I explored were:

“What are her hobbies? How does she spend her free time? What makes her unique?”

“What are some typical questions she searches for on Google?”

“What’s a recent example of her having trouble finding information?”

“What would make her search experience more fun or engaging?”

From this interview, I gathered insights into a 10-year-old girl’s world. She searches mostly for homework help, places she wants to visit, and facts about animals. But more than that, I learned how easily she gets frustrated with search results filled with complex words she doesn’t understand and unrelated links. I saw that she was very comfortable with tech, but often stumbled when it came to spelling and filtering results. I came away with a clear vision of this specific user’s needs and quirks that would become the backbone of our design.

User Persona

Building off of what I learned from the interview, I created a User Persona “Sara” who serves as our “North Star” throughout the project. I highlighted essential details, like her love for animals, her tendency to ask lots of “What” and “How” questions, and her challenges with spelling and selecting the right keywords.

In the persona, I brought Sara to life as a curious, tech-savvy kid who just needs a little extra help finding age-appropriate information. This persona became a key reference point as we brainstormed features, always bringing us back to “What would Sara want?”

Defining the Problem

Analyzing Pain Points and Satisfaction Points Based on the interview insights and existing research, I collaborated with my team to compile a list of pain points and satisfaction points with the current Google Search experience:

• Pain Points: Frustration with overwhelming search results, complex language, and irrelevant links.
• Satisfaction Points: Quick access to information and the ability to explore new topics that spark curiosity.

One insight that stood out was that Sara needed a search engine that could help her refine her questions. Sometimes, she couldn’t find what she was looking for simply because she didn’t know how to ask the right way. This realization sparked our later ideas for features like guided question prompts and voice dictation to make her searches more effective and enjoyable.

Prototyping

Brainstorming and Co-Designing During our brainstorming sessions, I collaborated with my team to sketch out a prototype of what Google Junior might look like, ensuring that Sara’s needs were front and center.

Our prototype showcase the key features we envisioned for Google Junior, each designed with young users in mind. The home page invites children to search in two intuitive ways: through a traditional search bar or by exploring categories that make finding information simpler and more engaging.

In the top-right corner, a settings menu empowers kids to personalize their experience. Here, they can select their preferred language, customize their visual theme, or choose a fun character for voice assistance, making the tool feel uniquely theirs. Just next to the settings, an additional menu provides quick access to features tailored to their preferences, ensuring they always feel in control of their search journey.

This design combines functionality and playfulness, creating an environment where kids like Sara can explore, learn, and grow with confidence.

This is how the general Google search page would look, where children have the option to search via text, image, and voice.

This is how the results page would look like, with the selected widgets on top, highlighted key words, and also some follow-up questions to encourage children to explore the topic further and also give them easy access to questions they may already have.

Reflecting on the Journey

Presenting Our Design to Industry Experts at Google

The Google Junior project was not only a creative endeavor but also an invaluable learning experience in user-centered design and iterative thinking. One of the most significant aspects of the project was the opportunity to present our work to industry experts, Kimberly Dowd, a UX researcher at Google, and Nicole Bleuel, a Senior Product Manager at Google. Their feedback offered a fresh perspective and challenged us to refine our approach further.

They commended the strong foundation of our user persona, Sara, grounded in real research, but encouraged us to make our designs more specific to her unique needs and experiences. Taking this feedback to heart, we revisited our pain points and satisfaction points to map out Sara’s individual user journey in greater detail—how she asks a question, navigates challenges, and feels during her search process. This allowed us to better align our proposed features, like guided prompts and visual customizations, with her playful and curious personality.

Additionally, their encouragement to “think bigger” inspired us to push beyond incremental changes. We reimagined Google Junior as a more dynamic and interactive platform, incorporating features like gamified search options, voice assistants with character personalities, and collaborative activities with family members. These adjustments not only made the design more engaging for users like Sara but also broadened its potential to inspire curiosity and enjoyment in learning.

Learning, Iterating, and Growing

This process of receiving expert feedback, conducting a formative evaluation, and iterating on our designs reinforced my ability to adapt, think critically, and integrate diverse insights into meaningful solutions. The Google Junior project inspired me to design with empathy, grounding innovation in user needs, and embracing collaboration to refine and elevate ideas. It is a reflection of my passion for creating experiences that not only solve problems but also spark joy and learning.

The whole research and design process allowed me to hone my skills in user research, persona development, and collaborative design. Through the research and design process, I learned the power of empathy in creating solutions tailored to specific user needs, particularly for children like Sara, who require an experience that bridges playfulness with functionality. By conducting a detailed user interview, analyzing pain points, and co-designing innovative features, I contributed to a product vision that reimagines how young users interact with technology.

One key takeaway was the importance of iterative thinking—how starting with real-life insights and refining ideas through collaborative brainstorming led to innovative, practical solutions. I also honed my ability to translate complex feedback into actionable design elements to create engaging and effective final products.