Jen Devins
UX Director at Google
- Episode
- 12
- Design Leader
- Jen Devins
- Role
- UX Director at Google
- Runtime
- 10:24
- Date Posted
- 7.16.24
- Featured
- Design
- Accessibility
Jen Devins leads the UX org at Google focused on accessibility, product inclusion, equity, and internationalization. She got there by way of art class, graphic design back when it meant pens and paper, and a degree in instructional technology, a path that kept circling the same question: does this actually work for the person using it?
Her team writes the standards, but standards don't ship products. Adoption does. She draws the parallel to design systems, where most enterprise efforts stall for exactly that reason. So instead of publishing a playbook and hoping teams run with it, her team follows its own guidance to build real case studies, then embeds with product teams for short, deep engagements so they see the practice applied to their own work. What comes back from those partnerships shows her team where the standards fall short.
Jen also makes the case that this is UX's job specifically. Designers, researchers, and writers are the ones who can turn user needs and business goals into a story a whole product team will act on. Her advice to designers entering the field: learn accessibility and inclusive design. It still sets you apart, which she notes is both useful and a sign of how far the field has to go, but the real payoff is building something you'd be proud to point back to.
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