CLIENT: GOOGLE
COMPANY: BASIC/DEPT®
Google Shopping AI
Google wanted to keep pace with how future generations shop. 22% of Gen Z shoppers claimed they struggled to describe what they wanted without being hyper-specific, and Search results were missing mark.
To close that gap, Google set out to support lengthier queries and help Gen Z find exactly what they imagined. Partnering with their innovation team, I co-created Dreamer: a set of AI-powered shopping products that reimagined how Gen Z discovers and buys.
Opportunity.
Visual search was rising and text-to-image was accelerating, but no one had fused them into a shopping experience that actually solved the core pain point. With Lens, MUM, and Imagen, Google was uniquely positioned to do it.
“Dreamer” gave shoppers an intuitive way to shop for what they wanted, even without the right words, by unifying Google’s visual, language, and generative AI into one adaptive, expressive search flow. For shoppers, it brought them closer to what they imagined. For Google, it expanded query types, deepened intent signals, and drove richer, higher-converting retail data.
Approach.
I drove the entire effort (vision, strategy, concepts) alongside our main Google client, and one designer. No PMs, no engineers, just innovation & deep product thinking. This one was unique.
Using a new design system Google was testing out, I guided three explorations: Dreamer as a tool embedded across existing Google products, Dreamer as a native surface within Google existing products, and Dreamer as its own app—ensuring each journey would inspire younger audiences to shop creatively.
Results.
This engagement wasn’t about metrics or KPIs. It was about creatively innovating for the change younger generations demand from brands, especially Google. About exploring what shopping could look like in an AI-driven world, and sparking ideas with teeth that showed what’s possible.
These concepts directly influenced Google’s “Shop what’s on your mind” AI shopping feature, which rolled out in December 2023 to mobile users opted into SGE.