Design alumni contribute to Google award-winning teams

Alumni of Rochester Institute of Technology’s new media design program had much to celebrate when Google announced the winners of its 2018 Material Design Awards. 

Of the four companies honored in the annual awards, three had a new media design graduate play a major role on their design team. Linzi Berry ’09 (product design systems lead, Lyft), Valentin Drown ’11 (lead product designer, Simple Habit Meditation) and Emmi Hintz ’12 (lead product designer, Anchor) each contributed to their respective company’s app design being recognized as best-in-class.

The Material Design Awards honor achievements in employing Google’s Material Design system in four categories: adaptation, experience, expression and innovation. Anchor won for adaptation, Simple Habit Meditation for experience and Lyft for innovation. There were hundreds of open nominations. 

“The app’s simple, information architecture and intuitive navigation allows users to quickly and easily discover the right meditation for their particular situation,” Drown said of Simple Habitat Meditation, according to the Material Design Awards website. “Positive user actions, such as ‘meditation completes,’are reinforced with rewarding interactions that help people build their positive habit more rapidly, while leaving them delighted by the experience.”

“Anchor uses bright colors, friendly typography, and conversational copy to make sure podcasting is approachable for anyone, even people who’ve never done it before,” Hintz said of Anchor, according to the Material Design Awards website. “We use animations and transitions to make our app feel lively, responsive, and fluid.”