New Zoom App Feature Concept

My Role: UX Researcher | Duration: 2 Weeks | Project Status: Ongoing

Project Overview

Due to the COVD-19 pandemic, many people are transitioning into using remote communication apps whether it be for school, work, or personal reasons. However, it is often difficult for users of these apps to stay engaged during their meetings and conversations. There is also a learning curve for learning the technology. In this study, we interviewed five different users of remote communication apps in order to find out how they feel about the apps and what they need to have a better experience. We found that many users heavily rely on these apps on a daily basis not only for work, but also just to keep in touch with people. We found that these users value and miss the human connection. These users all used several different apps for communicating. The most common platforms were Zoom, Slack, and Snapchat. Some interviewees stated that they really liked the screen share feature on Zoom. Others mentioned that they liked the channels on Slack and the breakout rooms on Zoom because they can connect with people better in smaller groups. We also found that these users often had a negative experience due to not knowing how to do something or with technical issues. Using the information gathered from the research, we concluded that these users need a way to collaborate and keep each other engaged.

Using the information from our research, we decided that the feature we wanted to add was going to be social subchannels that allow for users to be raffled out into random rooms when they join so that they can bond with coworkers. The social subchannels would also feature activities to do together. We drafted a low-fi and a medium-fidelity prototype of the app with our new feature and conducted two rounds of usability testing with 5 participants per round.

Problem Space Statement

Students and working professionals need a way to stay engaged with remote communication apps.

How might we enhance the features of remote communication apps to help students and working professionals stay engaged?

Methodology

We conducted one round of user interviews with 5 participants per round for this study.

• Participants: Students and working professionals, 20–30 years
• Testing Scope: Interview focused on finding user needs
• Time/Duration: Conducted interviews with 5 participants over the course of 2 days.
• Remote Interviews: Interviews were conducted over Zoom. Meetings were recorded.
• Research Goal: Identify user needs and pains when using a remote communication app for school or work.

Synthesis » Affinity Mapping

We took what users said in the interviews and created an affinity map.

• Individuals miss the human connection
• Users often have trouble staying engaged during remote meetings
• Users enjoy interactive features

Persona

We took our findings and created a persona that represents our users.

Revised Problem Statement

How might we provide users with a way to collaborate and keep each other engaged?

RESEARCH » DESIGN

Users miss the human connection » Ability to break users out into sub channels where they can join and be raffled off into one-on-ones or groups

Users have difficulty staying engaged » Subchannel rooms have the screenshare feature replaced with activities

MVP Reveal

Based on the key insights we found from user interviews, we started creating a feature that would fit the needs of our users.

• Ability to have “Subchannels” that automatically break out users into random rooms where they can socialize and play games
• Randomized Subchannels
• Screen share feature is replaced with “Activities”

Design Studio: Sketching + Concepting

For our initial sketches, we wanted to keep the design as close to the original design of the Zoom app as possible to avoid confusion for current users. We added some navigation elements in order for users to get to our features.

Mid-fidelity Screens

After initial usability testing, we took the results and made changes to the design. We then created mid-fidelity screens for our design.

Findings + Themes + Insights + Takeaways
For our mid-fidelity design, we added new pathways for users to complete tasks and to create subchannels. We also added a “channels” option to the navigation menu.

Initial User Testing: First Round

During the first round of testing, we found that users were having a lot of trouble figuring out how to do the required tasks. They all had different ways of navigating and went to different menu options to do the task.

• Participants: Students and working professionals, 20–30 years
• Testing Scope: Usability testing focus (Feature: Social sub channels with games)
• Time/Duration: Conducted 2 rounds of usability testing. Each round with 5 users over 2 days.
• Device: Mobile
• Remote Moderated Test: Test conducted in Figma with phone prototype over Zoom. Zoom session was recorded.

User Testing: Second Round

For the second round, we found that users were able to complete the tasks much more easily and in shorter amounts of time.

Findings + Themes + Insights + Takeaways
We found that users were still confused by all of the different options on the initial screen that they see.

Recommendations + Implementation + Next Steps

Overall, users believe that the feature that I implemented into the app was very simple. However, some of them don’t understand what channels were. The meet & chat page, which is the initial page that they see, is loaded with a lot of different buttons that could possibly allow users to join or create rooms.

Next Steps
We believe that the best next steps would be to redesign the page to include clearer paths to get to the tasks and perhaps rename channels to rooms or spaces so that users are able to understand what they are.