Microsoft Teams

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The Problem

Teams struggles to effectively organise direct messages (chats), making it challenging for users with extensive message lists to communicate efficiently without losing important conversations in the clutter.

Objective

Redesign Microsoft Teams’ chat organisation to alleviate user frustrations, boost productivity, and elevate user satisfaction.

Observation

• Limited Organisation Options: Beyond pinning, users don’t have much control over how chats are grouped or categorised.
• Linear Listing: The recent chats list grows continuously, which can make it overwhelming to locate specific conversations, especially if they frequently chat with many people.

Proposed Solution

Redesign Highlight

1. Pin Icon: Introduce a pin icon within each chat, replacing the ‘Pinned’ dropdown, enabling users to prioritise conversations seamlessly within the same view.‍
2. Custom Lists: Enable users to create custom lists for categorising chats (e.g., ‘Best Art Students,’ ‘Network Engineers,’ ‘Important Clients’). These lists are prominently displayed above the main chat feed for easy navigation.
3. Default List: Introduce default lists in the chat interface, allowing users to swiftly filter conversations by ‘Unread,’ ‘Groups,’ and ‘All,’ enhancing organisation and navigation.‍
4. Remove “Recent”: Eliminate the ‘Recent’ dropdown to streamline the UI, as chats are inherently sorted by the most recent activity.
5. Coach mark for Onboarding:  The coach mark features a customised illustration that fits seamlessly with Teams’ existing aesthetic, helping to educate users about the new “Lists” feature. The illustration makes the experience engaging while maintaining brand consistency, ensuring users feel familiar with the new functionality.

Conclusion

This case study showcases how I took a real user frustration from the Microsoft Community Forum and turned it into a practical, user-focused solution. By addressing the challenges users face with organising direct messages in Teams, I created a design that simplifies workflows, boosts productivity, and improves the overall experience. From identifying the problem to designing a solution that aligns with the Microsoft Teams design system, this project reflects my ability to solve meaningful problems with thoughtful and impactful design.