Crash Course in AI Product Design from Google Search + Maps Designer, Elizabeth Laraki
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Crash Course in AI Product Design from Google Search + Maps Designer, Elizabeth Laraki

1:12:12 Oct 7, 2025
About this episode
Today’s EpisodeEveryone’s building AI products wrong.They’re sprinkling AI on top like fairy dust. Adding chat interfaces to everything. Ignoring 70 years of design principles.Elizabeth Laraki was one of 4 designers on Google Search in 2006. One of 2 designers on Google Maps in 2007. She helped create products used by billions—products whose designs barely changed for 15+ years because they nailed it from the start.Today she breaks down exactly how to design AI features that users actually love.----Check out the conversation on Apple, Spotify and YouTube.Brought to you by:* Vanta: Automate compliance, manage risk, and prove trust* Kameleoon: Leading AI experimentation platform* The AI PM Certificate: Get $550 off with ‘AAKASH550C7’* The AI Evals Course for PMs: Get $1155 off with code ‘ag-evals’----Timestamps:00:00:00 - Intro00:01:52 - Elizabeth's background at Google00:04:19 - Google's AI search integration00:06:19 - Designing image & video for AI00:09:44 - AI image expander disaster00:16:05 - Ads00:17:50 - AI safeguards & human-in-the-loop00:18:28 - 3-step AI design process00:31:29 - Ads00:33:25 - Designing AI voice interfaces00:38:25 - Designing beyond chat00:41:52 - AI design tools for designers00:44:49 - Live design: LinkedIn for AI00:57:04 - Google Maps redesign story01:04:14 - Google Maps India landmarks01:10:09 - Where to find Elizabeth01:12:00 - Outro----Key Takeaways1. The Core Design Process Hasn't Changed: Define the product (who, what tasks, what needs), Design it (features, architecture, flows), Build it (UIs, brand). Don't skip to "let's add a chatbot" because you have API access. The fundamentals still apply for AI.2. AI Adds Non-Deterministic Risk: Traditional software is deterministic - click A, get B every time. AI is non-deterministic with unpredictable outputs. Elizabeth's image expander added a bra strap that wasn't in the original photo. Completely unintentional, completely unacceptable.3. Work With Research on Safeguards:
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