Play Protect Redesign
Play Protect is the Play and Android malware detection system that keeps users safe from harmful apps. It scans 125 billion apps across 3 billion active devices every day.
Strategy & Vision: Defined the product vision and strategic roadmap for a comprehensive redesign, translating synthesized research from two major organizations into a clear, actionable plan.
Leadership & Influence: Secured buy-in from VP-level stakeholders by driving alignment across multiple international teams, successfully navigating complex project dependencies and shifting timelines.
Policy & User Trust: Designed user-centric solutions for highly sensitive policy issues, directly improving key user trust sentiment metrics.
Where it started.
The Challenge
Play Protect was launched in 2017 to combat declining user trust caused by widespread reports of malware. While it was successful in providing background protection, its value wasn't being effectively communicated to users, who continued to install third-party antivirus apps out of fear. The primary user-facing page within the Play Store was static and failed to build confidence.
My Role
I joined the team in 2018 as the Lead Designer. My mission was to transform the Play Protect page from a passive status report into a dynamic and reassuring experience. The goal was to increase user engagement to build trust, demonstrate the value of our built-in protections, and give users confidence that the Play Store was a safe place.
The Challenge & scope
The Challenge: A Crisis of Awareness & Trust
Our research showed a major disconnect: while users were highly concerned about malware, Google’s best-in-class security feature, Play Protect, was failing them due to poor communication. The key issues were:
Low Discoverability: Most users didn't know the feature existed or how to use it.
Confusing Notifications: Critical alerts were so poorly understood that users would actively try to disable their own protection in response.
Eroding Trust: Instead of feeling protected, users felt confused and annoyed.
My Initial Finding: Expanding the Scope
My analysis quickly revealed that a simple screen redesign would be a band-aid on a much larger problem. I successfully made the case to leadership that we needed to broaden the project's scope to address the foundational issues, focusing on:
A comprehensive redesign of the entire experience.
Deeper and clearer system integrations.
Drastic simplification of core user flows.
The process
I spearheaded a comprehensive product audit focused on user trust, synthesizing user sentiment, existing research, and known issues identified in partnership with the Android Security team. To understand the technical landscape, I flew to London to collaborate directly with the engineering team to diagnose development challenges and identify key bottlenecks in the Android system integration.
Using the synthesized research as a foundation, I designed and facilitated a multi-day strategic sprint in London. This brought together engineering, product, and marketing partners to ideate and define optimized flows for device security. To ensure viability and a seamless user experience, I secured alignment with senior stakeholders from our Android and Play Store partners, validating that our proposed solutions improved both technical integration and the end-to-end customer journey.
Design solution
My solution transformed device security from a complex, fragmented experience into a clear, centralized, and actionable one. I designed a system that empowers users with an at-a-glance understanding of their security status and provides guided pathways to resolve issues, ensuring they feel confident and in control.
Instituted a "Traffic-Light" Status System: I designed a simple, color-coded system (green, yellow, red) that instantly communicates the device's security health, replacing ambiguity with immediate clarity.
Designed Actionable, In-Context Solutions: When issues arise, the system presents users with clear, scannable cards. I designed guided, step-by-step flows that allow users to resolve problems directly within the hub, minimizing friction and getting them back to safety quickly.
Engineered End-to-End Consistency: I unified the security status across the entire Android ecosystem, ensuring the information presented in the core Security Hub was perfectly mirrored in crucial touchpoints like the Google Play Store. This creates a single, trustworthy source of truth for the user.
Bring users back to safety with intuitive flow
Cross-system consistency
I commissioned a Visual Design to create a full brand and icons update, to introduce modern look and align better with newest Play Store redesign
I led the project from inception to launch, growing the design team in the process and managing contractors to deliver specs and on-going delivery support
