What it's like to be inside Google

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Whilst this is ostensibly a talk around Usability with Irene Au there are wonderful insights into how Google works. Did you know that they:
  • are a massively centralised organisation
  • have "Fix it days" where everyone concentrates on a particular facet of software
  • perform "Toilet testing" - didn't quite get this BUT they did say that the Usability team has a team blog which they print out once a week and put on the toilet doors and is extremely effective communication
[10-Nov-2024: I've made a public copy of the Wayback Machine MP3]
The blurb on the talk:
Irene Au discusses her previous experience at fast moving companies Netscape and Yahoo!, and how that experience will influence her latest challenge. As the new Director of User Experience at Google, she will be confronted with an organization that is clearly defined as engineering driven--practical people focused on achieving practical ends through the use of strict scientific and mathematical principles. How will her user experience team find a strategic foothold in this highly centralized engineering culture?

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