Leading Sustainable Design at Google
Katie Morgenroth leverages lessons learned in MPD2 to her work with Google Pixel, Fitbit, and Nest products. Now she's sharing those same lessons with MPD2 students as a member of the program's Industry Advisory Board.
Reducing negative impacts on the world around us is a central value to the design and development teams responsible for Pixel, Fitbit, and Nest devices, all part of Google's growing hardware portfolio. In 2019, the company launched the Nest Mini smart speaker, the first smart device made with recycled textiles1. In October 2023, Google announced its Pixel 8 series of phones would come with seven years of software support, including operating system upgrades and security updates2. It was the longest commitment to support ever offered by a smartphone brand.
1 : The Nest Mini enclosure is made from 35% post-consumer recycled plastic, and the fabric covering is made from 100% recycled plastic bottles, excluding dyes and additives.2 : Pixel updates for 7 years from when the device first became available on the Google Store in the US.
That commitment, according to Google, made the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro phones a great sustainable smartphone choice because it would be secure and perform well into 2030. Google continued this initiative with the recent announcement of its Pixel 9 phones.
"Our commitment to sustainability raises the bar for hardware longevity, a major focus for us right now," said Katie Morgenroth (MPD2 '11), head of sustainable design at Google. "The growing e-waste crisis and evolving repair legislation make designing long lasting devices essential. We see this as an opportunity for innovation."
Focusing on opportunity is a common mindset for Morgenroth when it comes to sustainability.
She leads projects and products that champion environmentally conscious opportunities across Google's hardware portfolio of devices. She collaborates with diverse teams to embed sustainability into the earliest stages of design to help extend product life, reduce carbon footprints, minimize waste, and integrate circular materials.
"The most impactful opportunities on a phone are very different from a smart speaker," Morgenroth said. "While sustainability is sometimes perceived as cost-prohibitive, I firmly believe the opposite is true. If we design products thoughtfully and efficiently — and work across teams to ensure they last longer — they have more opportunity to support our value chain, build brand equity, and elevate product quality."
Morgenroth is bringing that belief to Northwestern Engineering's Master of Product Design and Development Management (MPD2) program, where she now serves as a member of the Industry Advisory Board (IAB). In that role, Morgenroth helps to ensure the program's curriculum is aligned with current and future industry needs.
She understands the value of that curriculum more than most.
When Morgenroth enrolled in MPD2 as a student, she was looking for a unique way to expand her strategic skill set. She wanted more than just a design program. She wanted a program that incorporated design thinking with lessons about metrics that matter to cross-functional colleagues.
"I wanted to be at the table with fellow product leaders to help build business cases that incorporated design as part of the primary value proposition," she said. "You can have the best idea ever, but if you can’t communicate that idea or find creative ways to make it viable and feasible, it will struggle to take off."
Now, nearly a decade after she first joined Google, Morgenroth credits MPD2 with helping her get where she is today.
"I like to think that I landed at Google in a large part because of my MPD2 experience," she said. "Today I'm far more confident in blending my skills to lead diverse teams and complex projects thanks to my MPD2 background."
When Morgenroth was a student, she was drawn to her classmates' combination of curiosity, ambition, and kindness. She felt the program was filled with students who were both motivated and supportive.
She still sees those characteristics in MPD2 students today, and, in her opinion, it's that combination that prepares them to thrive in the product design and development space.
"For students to truly thrive after the MPD2 experience, they need to develop empathy and understanding of the complexities and metrics that matter to other teams," she said. "Designers shouldn't view product requirements from adjacent teams as limitations, but rather as constraints that can be solved with creativity. Product leaders can’t view design as a nice-to-have. MPD2 embeds this ethos deep into the curriculum in so many ways."