Designing ads for a brand-new surface
The first responsive ad framework for Search on Chrome Lens.
Role:
Interaction Designer
Team:
2 PM, 4 ENG, 1 UXR, 1 UXD, 1 DS & 1 VP
Timeline:
~1 month
The problem
Chrome Lens introduced a side panel that let users dive deeper without breaking their journey. Ads didn't exist in this space yet. I was asked to design ads for the side panel that stayed responsive across desktop and mobile widths and didn't disrupt the search experience.
The tension
Ads use different tokens and frameworks than organic results, and the side panel is a constrained, variable-width surface. The challenge was making ads fit responsively and feel native without degrading the quality of the search experience.
The hardest decision
I disconnected from the organic team's existing framework and defined ad-specific responsive rules, because patterns that worked for organic results wouldn't fly for ads here. I wrote the scaling rules, designed the formats, and prioritized the ad types with my PM.
The system
A responsive ad framework for the side panel, documented so other verticals like shopping and travel could reuse it and launch faster.
Impact
The first responsive ad framework for Search on Chrome Lens, reaching millions of users and enabling new ad formats in Chrome's side panel. Because it was well documented, other verticals reused it to ship faster.
What I'd change today
I'd invest earlier in a shared, self-serve spec so partner teams could adopt the framework without a handoff from me.