[译文]Google的用户体验 Google user experience

在搜索 User Experience 相关资料的时候，我发现了 Google Corporate Information 里的一个文档 Google user experience，这个文档并没有 Google 中国的“公司信息”里并没有找到中文翻译，于是我就顺手把它翻译了过来，一直放着也没有发布。今天想到就把它发布出来供大家参考，看了之后或许你会明白为什么 Google 的产品是那个样子。这个翻译非常感谢 618 同学帮我校对。

Google 用户体验
我们的愿景

Google 用户体验团队致力于创建这样的设计：有用，快速，简单，有吸引力，创新，普适，盈利，漂亮，值得信赖和有人情味。使这十大准则达到和谐的平衡是一项持久的挑战。一个达到了这种平衡的产品就可以叫“Googley”，它会令全世界的用户感到满足和喜悦。

Googley 用户体验的十大准则

1. 以用户为中心——他们的生活，工作和梦想。

Google 用户体验小组努力发现用户的真正需求，包括那些他们自己都无法阐明的需求。有了这些信息，Google 就可以创建解决现实问题并激发所有人创造力的产品。我们的目标不单单是简化按部就班的任务，而是改善人们的生活。

总之，一个精心设计的 Google 产品在日常生活中是有用的。它并不努力依靠花哨的技术和视觉效果来打动用户，尽管它可能全都具备。它不会强制用户去使用他们不需要的特性，但是它会引导有 兴趣的用户自发地去使用它们。它不会入侵人们的生活，但是它会向那些想要探索世界的信息、想要更快更有创意地工作和想要向朋友或世界分享想法的用户敞开大 门。

2. 每一毫秒都有价值。

没有什么比用户的时间更宝贵。幸好我们的精简的代码和精心挑选的图片文件让Google 的页面加载很快。最重要的功能和文本都放在了最容易找到的位置。不必要的点击、输入、步骤和其它操作都被去除了。Google 的产品只会请求一次信息并且包含了智能的默认选项。所有任务都是高效的。

速度为用户带来便利，这是我们的竞争优势。如果没有充足的理由，Google 绝对不会牺牲速度。

3. 简单就是力量。

简单造就了良好设计中的许多元素，包括易用性，速度，视觉效果和可访问性。一个产品从基本功能设计之初就应该保持简单。Google 不打算创建功能繁复的产品，我们最好的设计只包含那些用户完成目标过程中所必需的功能。理想情况下，即使产品需要大量的特性和复杂的视觉设计，也要看起来 简单而强大。

在以牺牲简单为代价去追求一个不太重要的功能之前，Google 团队会三思而后行。我们希望将产品推向新的发展方向，而不仅仅是增加更多功能。

4. 引导新手，吸引专家。

为多数人设计并不意味着为降低标准设计。最好的 Google 设计表面上看起来很简单，但是却包含了强大的功能，可以让需要的用户很容易地访问到。我们的目标是为新用户提供美妙的初始体验，同时也吸引那些经验丰富的 用户，他们的激情和专业知识将吸引其它的用户也来使用产品。

一个精心设计的 Google 产品会让新用户很快熟悉，在必要的时候提供帮助，并且保证用户可以通过简单符合直觉的操作使用产品的大多数有价值的功能。逐步披露高级功能会鼓励用户去扩 展他们对产品的使用。在适当情况下，Google 会适时地提供一些智能功能来吸引那些资深网络用户——那些在多个设备和电脑之间共享数据的人，在线上和线下工作的人，以及需要存储空间的人。

5. 敢于创新。

设计上的一致性是 Google 产品获得信任的基石，它令用户舒适并提高他们的工作效率。但是要想把设计从沉闷乏味变得令人愉快就要依靠想象力。

Google 鼓励那些创新、冒险的设计，只要它们符合用户需求。我们的团队鼓励新的想法并发展它们。不是为了去适应现有的产品功能，Google 更着眼于改变整个游戏规则。

6. 为全世界设计。

万维网已经向世界各地的人们开放了互联网上的所有资源。例如，很多用户通过移动设备来使用 Google 的产品，而不是坐在桌子前面通过电脑。我们设计出的产品应该在用户随意选择的任何一种媒介上都可以适时调整和使用。在可能的情况下，Google 会适时地支持较慢的连接速度和旧版的浏览器，而且 Google 会允许用户选择如何浏览信息（屏幕大小，字体大小）和如何输入信息（智能查询分析）。用户体验团队会研究世界上用户体验的根本差异，为每一个用户、每一个 设备和每一种文化设计出合适的产品。简单的翻译，或者功能上的“优雅降级”，都不足以满足人们的需要。

Google 还致力于改善产品的可访问性。我们对简单和具有包容性产品的渴望，以及Google 让全世界的信息普遍可访问的使命，都要求我们的产品支持辅助技术，向包括有身体和认知缺陷在内的所有用户提供愉悦的体验。

7. 计划今天和明天的业务。

那些盈利的 Google 产品竭力做到以有助于用户的方式赚钱。为了实现这一崇高目标，设计师将和产品团队一起确保商业计划能够和用户的目标无缝集成。他们会确保广告具有相关性、 有用并可以明确地识别出是广告。 Google 也会注意保护那些广告客户和其它靠 Google 谋生的人的利益。

如果靠某个产品增加收入会减少 Google 未来的用户数量，那么 Google 绝对不会做这种尝试。如果一个有利可图的设计没有让用户满意，它就会被打回重做。不是每个产品都需要盈利，但是不能有产品对业务不利。

8. 愉悦用户的眼睛，但不分散注意力。

如果人们看到一个 Google 的产品时说“哇，真漂亮！”，用户体验团队就可以欢呼了。一个积极的第一印象会让用户觉得舒服，使他们确信这个产品是可靠和专业的，并且会鼓励用户做出自己的产品。

简约美学对于大部分的 Google 产品都是适用的，因为一个干净、清爽的设计加载迅速，而且不会分散用户的注意力。吸引人的图像、颜色和字体需要与速度、可扫描文本和简易导航取得平衡。尽 管如此，“简单优雅”并不是对所有产品来说都是最合适的。要考虑到用户和文化背景的因素。一个 Google 产品的视觉设计应该让用户感到满意并且有助于使用。

9. 值得信任。

好的设计可以深深赢得使用 Google 产品的人们的信任。Google 的可靠性的建立是从基础就开始的，例如，界面确保高效和专业、动作容易撤销、广告被明确识别、术语的一致性以及令用户惊喜而非惊诧。此外，Google 的产品是向全世界开放的，它包含指向竞争对手的链接并且鼓励用户做出贡献，如社区地图或者 iGoogle 小工具。

一个更大的挑战是确保 Google 对用户控制自己数据的权利表示了尊重。在如何使用信息和信息如何共享给他人（如果有的话）方面，Google 是透明的，所以用户可以做出知情的选择。我们的产品在有危险的时候会警告用户，比如不安全的链接，使用户容易受到垃圾邮件骚扰的行为，或者将数据分享在 Google 之外的其它地方而被存储的可能性。Google 越大，遵循我们“不作恶”的座右铭就越重要。

10. 有人情味。

Google 包括了各种各样的人格特质，而我们的设计也是有人性的。文本和设计元素都是友好、机灵并且智能的，而不是枯燥、古板或傲慢的。Google 的文本直接和用户对话，并提供实际、非正式的协助，就像任何一个人回答邻居所提出的问题一样。而且 Google 不会让有趣或个性干扰到设计的其它元素，尤其是当人们被生活或找到重要信息的能力严重困扰的时候。

Google 并非全知，而且没有设计是完美的。我们的产品希望得到反馈，Google 会根据这些反馈采取行动。当实践这些设计准则的时候，Google 用户体验团队会在每个产品的可用时间里寻找最佳的平衡。然后，迭代、创新和改善会循环往复。

 

英文原文：Google user experience

Google user experience

Our aspirations

The Google User Experience team aims to create designs that are useful, fast, simple, engaging, innovative, universal, profitable, beautiful, trustworthy, and personable. Achieving a harmonious balance of these ten principles is a constant challenge. A product that gets the balance right is “Googley” – and will satisfy and delight people all over the world.

Ten principles that contribute to a Googley user experience

1. Focus on people their lives, their work, their dreams.
   The Google User Experience team works to discover people‘s actual needs, including needs they can‘t always articulate. Armed with that information, Google can create products that solve real-world problems and spark the creativity of all kinds of people. Improving people‘s lives, not just easing step-by-step tasks, is our goal.

   Above all, a well-designed Google product is useful in daily life. It doesn‘t try to impress users with its whizbang technology or visual style – though it might have both. It doesn‘t strong-arm people to use features they don‘t want – but it does provide a natural growth path for those who are interested. It doesn‘t intrude on people‘s lives – but it does open doors for users who want to explore the world‘s information, work more quickly and creatively, and share ideas with their friends or the world.

2. Every millisecond counts.
   Nothing is more valuable than people‘s time. Google pages load quickly, thanks to slim code and carefully selected image files. The most essential features and text are placed in the easiest-to-find locations. Unnecessary clicks, typing, steps, and other actions are eliminated. Google products ask for information only once and include smart defaults. Tasks are streamlined.

   Speed is a boon to users. It is also a competitive advantage that Google doesn‘t sacrifice without good reason.

3. Simplicity is powerful.
   Simplicity fuels many elements of good design, including ease of use, speed, visual appeal, and accessibility. But simplicity starts with the design of a product‘s fundamental functions. Google doesn‘t set out to create feature-rich products; our best designs include only the features that people need to accomplish their goals. Ideally, even products that require large feature sets and complex visual designs appear to be simple as well as powerful.

   Google teams think twice before sacrificing simplicity in pursuit of a less important feature. Our hope is to evolve products in new directions instead of just adding more features.

4. Engage beginners and attract experts.
   Designing for many people doesn‘t mean designing for the lowest common denominator. The best Google designs appear quite simple on the surface but include powerful features that are easily accessible to those users who want them. Our intent is to invite beginners with a great initial experience while also attracting power users whose excitement and expertise will draw others to the product.

   A well-designed Google product lets new users jump in, offers help when necessary, and ensures that users can make simple and intuitive use of the product‘s most valuable features. Progressive disclosure of advanced features encourages people to expand their usage of the product. Whenever appropriate, Google offers smart features that entice people with complex online lives – for instance, people who share data across several devices and computers, work online and off, and crave storage space.

5. Dare to innovate.
   Design consistency builds a trusted foundation for Google products, makes users comfortable, and speeds their work. But it is the element of imagination that transforms designs from ho-hum to delightful.

   Google encourages innovative, risk-taking designs whenever they serve the needs of users. Our teams encourage new ideas to come out and play. Instead of just matching the features of existing products, Google wants to change the game.

6. Design for the world.
   The World Wide Web has opened all the resources of the Internet to people everywhere. For example, many users are exploring Google products while strolling with a mobile device, not sitting at a desk with a personal computer. Our goal is to design products that are contextually relevant and available through the medium and methods that make sense to users. Google supports slower connections and older browsers when possible, and Google allows people to choose how they view information (screen size, font size) and how they enter information (smart query parsing). The User Experience team researches the fundamental differences in user experiences throughout the world and works to design the right products for each audience, device, and culture. Simple translation, or “graceful degradation” of a feature set, isn‘t sufficient to meet people‘s needs.

   Google is also committed to improving the accessibility of its products. Our desire for simple and inclusive products, and Google‘s mission to make the world‘s information universally accessible, demand products that support assistive technologies and provide a useful and enjoyable experience for everyone, including those with physical and cognitive limitations.

7. Plan for today‘s and tomorrow‘s business.
   Those Google products that make money strive to do so in a way that is helpful to users. To reach that lofty goal, designers work with product teams to ensure that business considerations integrate seamlessly with the goals of users. Teams work to make sure ads are relevant, useful, and clearly identifiable as ads. Google also takes care to protect the interests of advertisers and others who depend on Google for their livelihood.

   Google never tries to increase revenue from a product if it would mean reducing the number of Google users in the future. If a profitable design doesn‘t please users, it‘s time to go back to the drawing board. Not every product has to make money, and none should be bad for business.

8. Delight the eye without distracting the mind.
   If people looked at a Google product and said ”Wow, that‘s beautiful!” the User Experience team would cheer. A positive first impression makes users comfortable, assures them that the product is reliable and professional, and encourages people to make the product their own.

   A minimalist aesthetic makes sense for most Google products because a clean, clutter-free design loads quickly and doesn‘t distract users from their goals. Visually appealing images, color, and fonts are balanced against the needs for speed, scannable text, and easy navigation. Still, ”simple elegance” is not the best fit for every product. Audience and cultural context matter. A Google product‘s visual design should please its users and improve usability for them.

9. Be worthy of people‘s trust.
   Good design can go a long way to earn the trust of the people who use Google products. Establishing Google‘s reliability starts with the basics – for example, making sure the interface is efficient and professional, actions are easily reversed, ads are clearly identified, terminology is consistent, and users are never unhappily surprised. In addition, Google products open themselves to the world by including links to competitors and encouraging user contributions such as community maps or iGoogle gadgets.

   A greater challenge is to make sure that Google demonstrates respect for users‘ right to control their own data. Google is transparent about how it uses information and how that information is shared with others (if at all), so that users can make informed choices. Our products warn users about such dangers as insecure connections, actions that may make users vulnerable to spam, or the possibility that data shared outside Google may be stored elsewhere. The larger Google becomes, the more essential it is to live up to our “Don‘t be evil” motto.

10. Add a human touch.
    Google includes a wide range of personalities, and our designs have personality, too. Text and design elements are friendly, quirky, and smart – and not boring, close-minded, or arrogant. Google text talks directly to people and offers the same practical, informal assistance that anyone would offer to a neighbor who asked a question. And Google doesn‘t let fun or personality interfere with other elements of a design, especially when people‘s livelihood, or their ability to find vital information, is at stake.

    Google doesn‘t know everything, and no design is perfect. Our products ask for feedback, and Google acts on that feedback. When practicing these design principles, the Google User Experience team seeks the best possible balance in the time available for each product. Then the cycle of iteration, innovation, and improvement continues.