Grow with Google
01
Designing and scaling Google’s flagship learning programme for an increasingly digital future.
Agency
Beyond
Year
2021
Role
Associate Creative Director
Skills
Product design
Design systems
Creative direction
02
the challenge
When the pandemic reshaped how people worked, the demand for accessible digital skills accelerated overnight.
Grow with Google required strong product and creative leadership to respond to changing user needs at scale.
Since 2017, Beyond had partnered with Google to design and build the digital platforms under the Grow with Google programme across EMEA, including the flagship Digital Workshop e-learning platform, AI for Business tool and Grow with Google marketing site. As the demand for online learning tripled during the pandemic, the platforms needed to rapidly evolve for millions of learners.
At the time, Google was Beyond’s largest account. I was trusted to step in and lead design mid-flight. My role was to guide growth on the account, prioritising where design could deliver the most value, maintain quality and coherence across a complex product ecosystem, and help the programme scale responsibly during a period of accelerated growth.
03
The approach
We approached Grow with Google as a long-term product ecosystem rather than a series of isolated projects.
People are at the heart of Grow with Google, and used this thinking to guide us. As the programme expanded across platforms, markets and partners, our focus was on building ways of working that could flex and a design system that could scale. This meant creating enough structure to maintain quality and consistency while leaving room to respond quickly as priorities shifted.
Rather than chasing large redesigns, we focussed on continuous improvements where we could add value and clear decision-making at a programme level. This included strengthening core journeys, simplifying interfaces, establishing patterns that could scale across different tools and regions, and reducing fragmentation as new features and content were introduced.
When the pandemic demanded faster responses and a change in how people wanted to learn, reskill and adapt, these foundations allowed the team to move at pace without compromising on usability, accessibility or coherence across the experience. By keeping people at the heart of the programme, we focussed on helping users build confidence and make progress rather than just pushing them to complete digital skills courses.
As Associate Creative Director, I helped guide these decisions at a programme level, aligning stakeholders, supporting an evolving team, and balancing short-term delivery with long-term product health as the scope of the programme continued to grow.
04
the impact
Grow with Google matured into a scalable, people-centred ecosystem, designed to deliver real value now while remaining adaptable over time.
Platform and design system leadership at global scale
The Digital Workshop platform expanded across 53 countries, supporting 27+ languages and 153 courses. Clear design foundations enabled consistency across markets, while leaving room for local content, partners and initiatives to shape the experience where it mattered, helping the platform grow without feeling over-engineered.
Design decisions grounded in real user outcomes
Grow with Google supported 11 million+ registered users globally, helping people build digital skills, progress in their careers and adapt to new ways of working. The focus was on clarity, accessibility and momentum, supporting confidence and progress rather than optimising for completion alone. This ensured the experience stayed practical and relevant for a wide range of learners.
Long-term product stewardship through change
The programme evolved through continuous improvement, responding to shifting user needs, new partnerships and rapid change during the pandemic. The foundations and ways of working established during this period allowed Grow with Google to keep expanding without sacrificing coherence or quality, supporting the programme well beyond a single moment in time.
Selected works
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