My Ad Center

A New Visual Language for Privacy

Lead Visual Designer & Art Director
Visual Systems, 3D Illustration & Animation, UI/UX Design
2021–2024

01. Privacy Problem
From Compliance to Connection
The internet’s advertising model faced an existential risk: a crisis of user trust.
Research showed that users felt ads were something that happened to them.
The existing landscape of privacy settings was defined by "dark patterns"—dense legal checklists, confusing toggle switches, and cold, bureaucratic interfaces. This complexity contributed to a feeling of anxiety and a lack of control.

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02. Make it Tangible
Designing for Psychological Safety
Data is abstract, invisible, and scary.
To make it manageable, we designed the material system to reduce cognitive load and induce psychological safety.

We reimagined ad data as 3D building blocks. Instead of checking boxes, users "collect" shapes.

We utilized frosted glass to symbolize privacy—translucent enough to show transparency, but opaque enough to create a protective barrier. We paired this with wood textures to introduce organic warmth and stability into a sterile digital environment.

03. Ads Personalization
Reframing the Value Exchange

We introduced a unified master switch that performs two critical actions simultaneously: allowing users to opt out of future personalized ads AND instantly deleting previously declared ad preferences.

To explain the difference between "Generic" and "Personalized" without relying on dense text, I developed a motion metaphor using our 3D system:

Generic Ads: Represented by basic primitives
Personalized Ads: We animated these primitives transforming into specific interest markers–a music note, a shoe, a book and etc.

04. Turn Control into Curation
Systematizing Personality

We architected the "Plus / Minus" control, a granular curation paradigm awarded 3 Design Patents for establishing a new standard in preference hierarchies.

Additionally, I engineered a high-density 3-column grid to maximize content visibility without compromising the generous touch targets required for mobile accessibility.

05. From Abstraction to Reality

Curating Life Moments

For years, Google’s ad settings relied on flat, vector-based illustrations. While scalable, this aesthetic created an emotional distance—ad topics felt like "categories" rather than personal interests.

I led the transition to a photography-first design system to capture "Lifestyle Authenticity," and directed the sourcing of 2,000+ images that prioritized candid, "slice of life" moments over staged stock photography.

We audited every asset against the Monk Skin Tone Scale (skintone.google), non-binary representation, and disability inclusion.

06. The Impact

A New Standard for Privacy UX

By treating privacy controls with the same visual care as a consumer lifestyle product, My Ad Center successfully shifted the user narrative from fear to empowerment.

60M+ Daily Active Users
3 Design Patents awarded for novel interaction models
Featured at Google I/O in 2022

Rachel Park Goto

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