Author Archives: Eunah Lee

Inside Google Korea’s new accessible office space

I don’t think I’ll ever forget the feeling of walking through the newly opened 28th floor of Google Korea. The space has been reimagined with a focus on “universal design” — meaning it was designed to be accessible to people of all abilities.

The idea for this space started a few years ago, when I was talking to other members of the Disability Alliance Employee Resource Group (ERG) in Korea about their web accessibility project— a conversation that then shifted to improving accessible design in the office. Was our office truly as accessible as it could be? Did everyone feel that they could do their best work without any restrictions due to their abilities? We pinpointed some areas for improvement, and that sparked a desire to make a change.

The Disability Alliance then partnered with Google's Real Estate & Workplace Services team to explore how we could implement some of these changes, especially as we expanded our space in Gangnam. Bit by bit, we made improvements to our existing office space, from adding braille to meeting room signs to adding drop-down thresholds for doors.

And when we had the opportunity to influence a brand new floor, we embraced the concept of universal design to co-design alongside the REWS team. Throughout the whole process, we incorporated feedback and co-designed with many people in our community— including Inho, a software engineer with a visual impairment. The design team made all designs and plans available in braille, so that anyone who was visually impaired could still review them.

Seeing our carefully thought out plans begin to take shape was incredible. Finally stepping into the finished space took my breath away, and I was so excited just thinking of how this could help so many of our colleagues thrive.

But don’t just take my word for it! Take a look at these four design details, and why they make such a difference.

We’re proud of how we've applied universal design principles in Google Korea, but we know this isn’t the end of the journey. In fact, I like to think that we’re just getting started. We’re constantly learning and seeking to understand the needs of all people — that’s how we can develop solutions that enable everyone to succeed.

“Parasite” searches ride an Oscars wave

It’s been over a week since “Parasite” made history, becoming the first non-English language film to win Best Picture. And people are still talking about (and searching for) it.


Surge in search interest

There was already global interest in “Parasite” before the Oscars (turns out a lot of people could find something to relate to in a dark, funny story about two very different Korean families). Parasite was the third-most-searched Best Picture nominee in the week before the awards ceremony, behind “1917” and “Jojo Rabbit.” 


Parasite map 1

But on the day of the Oscars, there was an 857 percent jump in the number of people searching for “Parasite” around the world, and that interest has continued since. In the week after the awards, it became the most-searched searched film worldwide—117 percent more searched than “1917” and 132 percent more searched than "Jojo Rabbit".

Parasite map 2

Focus on Bong Joon Ho (and his translator)

After being awarded Best Director, Bong Joon Ho won fans around the world with his gracious acceptance speech and promise to “drink until next morning.” Search interest for Bong increased by more than 2,000 percent on the day of the awards, while Korean-language searches for Martin Scorcese surged, too, after Bong quoted one of his lines (“the most personal is the most creative”).


Most queries were about Bong himself, but the fifth-most asked question was “who is Bong Joon Ho’s translator?” (The answer is Sharon Choi, a Korean-American and fellow filmmaker who gained her own following during awards season.)


A boost for Korean cinema

Interest in Korean cinema has been growing steadily over thepast decade—but the success of “Parasite” has sent people scrambling to find out more. Related searches for “Korea” and “film”  have increased by more than 47 percent in the past month and reached their highest peak for 12 months in the week after the Oscars.  


Ram-don fandom

We’ve also seen growing appetite for the Korean noodle dish ram-don (aka Jjapa Guri) which features in “Parasite”. Since the Oscars, searches for “ram-don recipe” have soared by more than 400 percent globally and searches for “Asian supermarket” are up more than 350 percent. Denmark, the United States, Canada, Singapore and Australia are the countries searching the most—suggesting there could be opportunities for enterprising Korean restaurateurs in places from Copenhagen to Canberra.

Source: Search