Google decided to shut down Gmail. What would you do?
Google- Mario Romero
Clarify :
Who am I ?
Assumption: I am a Product Manager at Google responsible for launching innovative products.
Why is Google doing this :
What was the main driver behind this?
Does google plan to replace Gmail with another product offering?
Is Google merging Gmail functionality with another product?
What is the user migration plan?
Clarify business Objective :
Consolidate solutions ?
Retain customers within Google ecosystem ?
Maintain leadership in the market ?
Depending on answers to above questions, my options are :
- New features: Enhance an existing Google product with mailing functionality and transition the users over?
- New Products: Introduce an alternate product offering to market and transition users over
- New Technology: Introduce a new technology to address the user problem and transition users over
| Option | Depth of investment | Positive Impact to customer | Negative Impact to customer |
| 1 | $ | Minimum learning curve | No new features |
| 2 | $$ | Ease of use | Small learning curve |
| 3 | $$$ | New capabilities Increased Productivity |
High Learning curve Cost |
If the primary reason of shutting down Gmail is cost, Option 1 is a good option
Option 2 does not provide any benefits
Option 3 : Establish thought leadership
Let us choose Option 3 and procced with possible solutions
Major user Journey
- Compose message > Send message
- Receive message > Read message > Reply
- Archive & Search
Solution: An messaging system that works with Google voice assistant enabled tablets
| Features | Depth Of investment | Positive impact to customer |
| Take dictation and compose message. Read out final draft and send message to recipient after confirmation. | $$ | Essential |
| Attach media files from Google Drive | $ | Essential |
| Inform use when a new message arrives. | $ | Essential |
| Read out message and save attachments to google drive | $ | Essential |
| Voice search through archive | $$ | Medium |
| Integrate with IOT devices & google voice assitant | $$ | High |
| Option to Autoreply based on incoming message content | $$$ | Low |