Categories: Team Collaboration

Webex Teams – say hello to the new in-space design

It’s out with the old and in with the new this March

There are several factors which can contribute to a large design update. It begins with user research which leads to a problem statement. It was in this way we discovered a few flaws with the old in-space menu design. People struggled to find content, people, and access to calling and meeting options. Activities always seemed very ‘far away’ – it took several clicks to find and access Files or My threads through the in-space ellipsis menu. When you got to Files, there was then the problem of reviewing the content in the limited area available. Our research told us that the most valuable activities in Webex Teams were difficult to discover, took several clicks to access and did not have enough real estate for effective content review.

To validate our findings, we moved the Call/Meet button into the space header, just one click away for users. Feedback on this move was overwhelmingly positive and enough for us to undertake a larger redesign effort to address the remaining issues.

After months of careful feedback analysis, design and redesign, building and rebuilding and extensive user testing, we can finally unveil the sleek new in-space design coming to Webex Teams in March 2020.

Before

After

At a glance, you can already see the differences. In-space actions that were once hidden away in the fourth column ‘ellipsis’ menu are now just one click away. You’ll also notice that that same menu button no longer exists. Let’s talk through all the exciting changes step by step.

Messages

Messages appear in the same area as before. The only difference is that you will now find it always just one click away as its own Messages tab.

People

The people list will appear in a tab. This tab allows for a quick review of how many people are in the space. The list itself now lives in the spacious third column area. You can scan through this list to review the contact cards of other people in a space. This will be especially useful when you just get added to a new space.

Adding new people to a space is no longer restricted to the narrow area of the fourth column, users can now easily review as they go about adding people to a space.

In a one to one chat, there will be no ‘People’ tab. The value of reviewing the people list is lost when there is just you and one other person. You also cannot add other users to a one to one space. You can review other users’ contact cards at any time by hovering over their avatar in the message area or space list.

Moderators will be much easier to locate – just one click away – at the top of the people list in the ‘People’ tab.

Content

The Content tab will be home to Files, ECM, Whiteboards and Links.

Content will now be displayed in a grid layout. This allows for a quick review of all files shared in a space, making it much easier to find content. Hovering over a file offers the same options as before – jump to the message with which the file was sent or download. As files are the most frequent user navigation in relation to content, this will be the pre-selected option when users open the ‘Content’ tab.

Whiteboards have a similar layout to Files – a larger area for quicker review. The button to create a new whiteboard will always be the first option in the grid view. To remove a whiteboard from a space, just hover over the whiteboard and click the ‘delete’ button.

URLs shared in the space will live in a dedicated Links section. They will be stacked and stretched across the full area of the third column. Having the extra space here makes the content of the links much clearer, making it easier for people to find what they are looking for. The same hover options as before will be present here – jump to the message sent with the link or copy.

Your Enterprise Content Management (ECM) items will be found the same as before with your files. If you want to set up a linked folder to a space, this option will be found in the top right corner of the Files section.

Schedule

Schedule will remain in the same place in the third column under a dedicated Schedule tab. The in-space schedule shows all meetings organised within that space. Having this information one click away will ensure users are aware of important upcoming meetings. The User Interface (UI) of the ‘schedule a meeting’ and ‘space meeting information’ buttons have been enhanced for clearer legibility.

My threads

Our research told us that the My threads section in a space was being used as navigation, usually to jump to the original message thread. Because of this and various other feedback, we have moved My threads to be a button on the right of the space header. Clicking this button will prompt a call-out, which users can scroll through to find the right message thread while not being removed from their current location in the space.

Space Information

Space information (or space settings) will be found in the exact same place as before. The icon has been updated to be an easy to understand settings cog.

Sounds like we have lots to look forward to this March. The new in-space design is guaranteed to make users more productive as they go about their day-to-day collaborative tasks in Webex Teams. Okay, now it’s time to get excited!

In the images of the new tabbed design, you might notice a ‘plus’ sign next to the Schedule tab. This is a placeholder for the new embedded apps feature which will not be in March but will be available very soon in an upcoming update. Keep an eye on our ‘Coming soon’ page for more details items like this here.