The New Normal
Pandemic Purchasing Patterns

Google
2021
Data Visualization, UI, UX
Role: Visual Interaction Designer. Development by Kenton Powell & Jeff Macinnes, Project Management by Rebecca Ojala, Creative Direction by Sergei Larianov, under the guidance of Partner Christian Marc Schmidt.
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CHALLENGECovid-19 fundamentally changed how people live, work, and shop. We set out to understand how search intent could reveal behavioral shifts and which habits stuck. The goal: make complex behavioral data accessible, engaging, and explorable for the general public.

APPROACH
  • Analyzed Google Shopping taxonomy across pre-pandemic and pandemic timelines.
  • Created a custom framework to categorize trends as Normal, Unusual, or New Normal.
  • Balanced storytelling with open-ended exploration for users.

ROLE
  • Interaction and visual design for a dynamic, category-based data interface.
  • Developed the narrative structure and typology model to guide user comprehension.
  • Designed a clean, data-forward visual system to support diverse search trends.

SOLUTIONAn exploratory web experience where users can:
  • Discover product search trends over time.
  • Filter by behavior type and category.
  • Understand how daily needs changed, stabilized, or evolved during the pandemic.

IMPACTThe New Normal translated abstract data into a relatable, interactive narrative. It helped users recognize themselves in the numbers and understand the pandemic’s long-term effects through an accessible lens.