TRACKERS
& ORGANIZERS.
The strategic pivot: How foundational research shifted Google Sheets' focus from 5% of analysts to 70% of daily users.
SEGMENTATION & PRIORITIZATION
FOUNDATIONAL RESEARCH
TARGET SEGMENT IDENTIFIED
The Hidden Majority
In 2020, Google Sheets was built primarily for Analysts. But the pandemic forced a shift in virtual collaboration. I was tasked with a foundational study to understand these new workflows—studying everything from users' physical desk setups to their sync/async decision-making.
The breakthrough: We realized "Analysts" were the minority. The vast majority of users were actually using Sheets to track and organize projects, tasks, and teams.
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01
THE SEGMENTATION
Collaborated with Quant UXR to prove that 70% of daily users (~42M people) were "Trackers," not Analysts. This data convinced leadership to pivot the product strategy.
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02
PRIORITIZATION
Used MaxDiff surveys (N=1,200) to rank user pain points. The top needs—"Bird's eye view" and "Reducing manual entry"—led directly to the invention of Smart Chips and Timeline View.
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03
TABLES STRATEGY
Conducted Kano surveys and Diary studies to define the MVP feature set for Sheets Tables, ensuring we balanced "Must-Haves" with "Delighters" for launch.
FOUNDATIONAL ANALYSIS
Ethnographic-style study of remote workflows (desk setup, meeting vs. chat decisions) to understand the context of the "Tracker" behavior.
QUANT SEGMENTATION
Analysis of usage logs for 1 Billion+ monthly users to quantify the "Tracker" segment, proving they were the dominant user type (70%).
MAXDIFF & KANO
Rigorous survey methodologies (N=1,200) used to mathematically prioritize feature lists and define the difference between MVP and GA requirements.