Google: My Ad Center (2023)

Executive Summary

Led 0→1 design and launch of Google’s My Ad Center, addressing the global trust gap in ads and privacy.
Created a scalable UI/UX system and launched a new 3D illustration style aligned with Google’s evolving design language.
Reframed ads from passive to participatory, giving users meaningful control over topics, brands, and personalization.
Built cross-functional consensus through a collaborative design process, partnering with PM, Marketing, and PR to craft the product narrative featured at Google I/O, in press releases, and global launch campaigns.
Scaled to 830M monthly users, with 60M+ DAUs and over 330M ad preference changes.
Delivered strategic and design impact recognized through design patents and industry visibility.

Company / Team
Google Ads Privacy & Safety

Role
Art direction, UI/UX design, Design system
Links
↘︎ I/O 2022 Keynote
↘︎ Official blog post

User Problems

Ads often felt like something done to users rather than something they could influence.
The relationship between ads and user data was opaque, leading to distrust.
People increasingly expected transparency and control over their ad experiences.

Clear curations controls

The controls allow users to indicate which topics and brands they are interested in, or not interested in. And we offer users the ability to block ads about sensitive topics, such as alcohol or gambling.

Meaningful privacy controls

The new ways for users to choose which data can and cannot be used for ads, and allow users to correct any incorrect inferences that Google may have made about them.

One global control

The global control that is prominently displayed at the top of the page gives users an easy way to turn off personalized ads, and delete their previously declared advertising preferences.

Visually authentic experiences

Directed the sourcing and curation of 2000+ authentic photographs across 487 ad topics, prioritizing cultural sensitivity, inclusivity, and global scalability.

Collaborator: Selman Design

Customizable 3D building blocks

In order to achieve the product goal of designing more controls over users' ad experience, and the Google Material You goal of helping users create and own a single experience on their devices, we created a new 3D style referencing Google Material You shapes to deliver the story of a customizable experience that users can control.