Zoom

User-centric Solutions for Better Virtual Communications in a Post Covid World

PROJECT FOCUS

ACADEMIC PROJECT  |  VIDEO COMMUNICATION SERVICES  |  USER RESEARCH  |  VISUAL DESIGN

/ OVERVIEW

Zoom had undoubtedly become a global staple for video and voice communications, connecting people and organizations in a world that shifted to virtual interactions. With its simple, no-hassle invite feature and market dominance, it’s no wonder it became the go-to platform during the COVID-19 pandemic.

But despite its popularity, the platform had its pain points. Our project involved uncovering areas where Zoom fell short in satisfying user needs and expectations. We set out to discover patterns in user behavior and frustrations to ultimately improve the overall experience.

Zoom’s widespread adoption was the cause of both; its strength and challenge. Our approach was to align research objectives with the platform’s goal of offering easy, accessible video communications while focusing on enhancing the users’ journey.

Through evidence-based, user-centric research and design practices, we aimed to give users more control and improve the overall experience. Our goal was not just fixing current identified issues; but more about making Zoom more intuitive and engaging for seasoned and novice users alike.

/ RESULTS

for new users through improved onboarding tutorials.

with the ability to create meeting agendas and invite participants seamlessly.

with new improved audio/visual alerts.

making key features like backgrounds and filters, participant inviation and admission more accessible.

*NOTE: Due to the limited scope and academic nature of the project, these results reflect perceived improvements based on user feedback and research findings. We recommend further user testing and informed iterations to validate these results.

/ CONTEXT & REATIONSHIP

This project was done in collaboration with three other students at Humber College (UXD program) during the COVID-19 pandemic. With Zoom becoming an essential tool in our daily lives, using the platform ourselves for virtual discussions and meetings, it felt like the perfect subject for a UX analysis.

Our team took a deep dive into understanding the existing Zoom interface, comparing it’s features to other tools on the market and conducting ethnographic interviews to capture users’ experiences. This project pushed us to critically assess a tool we all relied on, and in doing so, the result was a comprehensive set of recommendations aimed at making Zoom more user-friendly and functional.

/ RESEARCH ACTIVITIES & ARTEFACTS

We began with a comparative analysis of multiple communication tools—Zoom, Slack, Google Meets, and Skype—to identify Zoom’s strengths and weaknesses. Our goal was to see how Zoom stacked up against its competitors, not just in terms of features, but in user experience.

What we found was that while Zoom was strong in offering various communication methods, the interface often hid these capabilities, making it harder for users to unlock the platform’s full potential. The risk? Users might switch to other, more intuitive platforms if this isn’t addressed.

To truly understand real-world users’ pain points, we conducted remote semi-structured interviews with eight participants, each lasting between 20-40 minutes. We created an interview guide and recruited participants to get a range of experiences, both from those who regularly host Zoom meetings and those who just attend.

After the interviews, we analyzed user behavior and pain points. This process involved synthesizing the qualitative data into themes, helping us better understand where Zoom’s interface could be more user-friendly.

We developed two key broad personas to represent Zoom’s user groups we identified based on our research:

⦿ Rithik Yadav – A tech-savvy meeting host, responsible for scheduling and managing Zoom meetings.

⦿ Sofia Huber – An attendee with minimal tech skills, who simply joins meetings set up by others.

To further understand how these users interacted with Zoom, we traced their journey through the platform. This allowed us to visualize:

⦿ Rithik’s journey: Schedule meeting > Invite > Facilitate > End meeting.

⦿ Sofia’s journey: Set up Zoom > Join > Participate > Leave meeting.

/ IDEATION

A tutorial option that introduces users to essential features and settings, ensuring a smoother onboarding experience for new and returning users.

A meeting agenda creation tool accompanied by a progress bar that allows users to manage topics and time effectively, keeping them on track throughout the session.

A simplified participant invitation process and visual indications to make managing attendees more intuitive and seamless.

Enhanced notifications with visual and audio alerts that are noticeable but non-intrusive, helping users stay informed about important changes without distraction.

A reorganized action bar that makes essential and advanced features easier to find, ensuring users can fully utilize the platform’s capabilities.

Before wireframing, we mapped out the flow of tasks undertaken by both the host and the attendee user groups. This helped us outline the key screens needed and understand how they all connect in a particular user’s journey.

After understanding the flow of tasks, we created low-fidelity wireflows to visualize how the solutions would look and feel. This allowed us to depict our solutions and iterate on the designs before moving on to higher fidelity wireframes.

/ WIREFRAMING

This solution helps users by providing a step-by-step guide to familiarize them with Zoom’s core features. It makes onboarding smoother and reduces confusion for new users.

By simplifying participant management and improving the interface layout, users can quickly invite and admit participants, reducing the cognitive load during meetings and making it easier to manage large sessions.

/ KEY CONCLUSIONS

⦿ The scope of the project was limited due to its academic nature. Additionally, all 8 interview participants were also students.

⦿ Investigation and Ideation was not encompassing across different devices. The project was a laptop/computer based and lacked a long-term feedback loop for validation.

⦿ Strict and tight timelines to conduct outlined research activities and it’s analysis.

⦿ When revisiting the study, review the relevance of findings and recommendations with the latest/current version of the Zoom interface.

⦿ Conduct usability testing to validate solutions & iterate based on user success and feedback. Ensure to test across different devices and platforms and consider recruiting broader user groups for more comprehensive feedback.

⦿ Conducting UX Research activities such as Comparative analysis of market-leading platforms, User interviews.

⦿ Crafting UX research artefacts based on research analysis and findings. This includes personas and journey maps.

⦿ Collaborating remotely with team for a fully virtual project and designing solutions that align with product goals.

⦿ Creating wireframes and prototypes based on research findings.

⦿ Gaining insight into the importance of effective user onboarding.