Google Productivity Cards in Experience

Purpose

This article provides an overview of Google Productivity Cards in Experience, including available features, setup steps, and frequently asked questions. 

Overview

Google Productivity Cards provide users with access to their institutional Gmail and Google Drive directly within the Experience dashboard. 

Productivity Cards bring essential Google tools, Gmail, and Google Drive directly into the Experience dashboard. They allow users to view recent emails and documents at a glance without switching applications. This helps reduce distractions and boosts productivity.

For the Google Drive and Gmail Cards, a valid Google account is required.

Single Sign On (SSO) Support

Google Productivity cards do not support SSO. Users must log in manually; the session remains active for 180 days or until the user signs out, whichever comes first.

• Logging into Gmail also logs the user into Google Drive.
• Logging into Outlook also logs the user into OneDrive.

How to Sign In to Google Productivity Cards

To sign in to the Google Productivity Cards, users must first log in to Experience.

1. Log in to Experience.
2. Select View All Cards in the top right corner of the dashboard.
3. In the search field, type "Google".
4. The three Google Productivity Cards will appear:
   • Gmail
   • Google Drive
   • Trip Planning
5. Choose any Google card, then select Sign In.
6. You will be redirected to the Google sign-in page. Choose your mtu.edu Google account to continue to Ellucian Experience.
   
7. After selecting an account, you will be prompted to sign in to Ellucian Experience. Select Continue to proceed.
   
8. You will be redirected to a page indicating that Ellucian wants to access your Google account. Review the permissions and select Allow.
   
9. Once signed in to one Google card, the user is automatically signed in to Gmail and Google Drive. The Trip Planning card does not require a Google sign-in.

Available Google Productivity Cards

Gmail Card

The Gmail card displays the 10 most recent inbox emails, including both read and unread messages, from a user Gmail account. For each email, the card displays:

• Sender name
• Email subject
• First line of the message
• Date received
• Document icon if an attachment exists

The Experience user can click any email in the card to launch Gmail and open it.

Google Drive Card

The Google Drive card displays the 10 most recently modified documents from a user's Google Drive account.

For each document, the card displays:

• Document title
• Modified date
• Name of the user who last modified the document
• Icon representing the document type

The user can click on any file name in the card to launch the Google Drive web application and open the selected file.

Google Maps Card

The Google Maps card provides users with access to Google Maps directly from the Experience dashboard.

• The card allows users to:
• Search for locations and addresses
• Plan trips and routes
• View directions and estimated travel times
• View maps and nearby locations

Users can click within the card to open Google Maps and view full map details or directions.