Google TimeSketch
Lead UX Researcher and Designer
2 months · 2025
AI Design / UX Research / Enterprise SaaS / Usability Testing
What is TimeSketch?
TimeSketch is Google's open-source platform for digital forensic investigations. Analysts use the platform to investigate security incidents, but the process is time-intensive. They spend hours manually combing through thousands of raw log events before forming a single conclusion.
The Opportunity
Google introduced an AI layer to change that: pre-processing the data and generating a draft investigation report so analysts validate findings rather than build from scratch. Before shipping, they needed to know whether analysts would trust it enough to use it in practice.
My role
I led the research and design for this engagement at DEPT, working with 10 forensic analysts over 2 months to validate the feature and surface the design changes needed to earn that trust.
Impact
80% confirmed product-market fit. The updated design shipped into Google Sec-Gemini.
Research
Running the research
I scoped the research engagement with the Google team, designing a moderated usability study structure and defining three questions that would determine whether the feature was ready to ship:
Three questions guided our focus:
How do analysts perceive the AI feature?
How would analysts use the AI feature?
Does the design solve the problem and make their workflow more efficient?
