Google named Fast Company’s Design Company of the Year
A look at how our design teams are translating breakthrough AI into everyday, intuitive experiences
Fast Company has recognized Google as its 2026 Design Company of the Year in the annual Innovation by Design Awards—honoring our collective effort to transform our products and experiences with AI.
Across Google, multidisciplinary teams of UX designers, researchers, engineers, and AI scientists collaborate through rapid prototyping and rigorous user research, ensuring complex systems feel natural, intuitive, and genuinely helpful.
This year’s honor recognizes our holistic design vision and innovative updates across our products:
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Search AI Mode, which reimagines information discovery, organizing complex, nuanced, and multimodal queries into clear, explorative journeys.
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Google Maps, which simplifies navigation through translucent 3D buildings that allow drivers to see around corners, cinematic camera transitions, and more natural voice guidance, earning five honors across AI, Experience, and Transportation Design.
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Gemini, which moves beyond static text prompts to bring dynamic, multimodal, and personalized assistance into everyday life.
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Material 3 Expressive, which evolves our design system to deliver adaptive, tactile UI components that seamlessly scale across form factors and devices, earning recognition as a UX General Excellence Finalist.
Read the full write-up in Fast Company and stay tuned for our upcoming deep dives into the design craft behind the scenes.