It’s rare these days when a company listens to direct inputs by its audience & acts on it. Microsoft has decided to act on user feedback & roll back features it had introduced to VoIP Skype some time ago.
Here’s why:
As Skype functionality has expanded, so too has its complexity. As with any feature rich product, maintaining simplicity while enhancing functionality is critical to usability. This past year we explored some design changes and heard from customers that we overcomplicated some of our core scenarios. Calling became harder to execute and Highlights didn’t resonate with a majority of users. We needed to take a step back and simplify!
As part of Skype’s features now, the new navigation model removes “redundant & underused” aspects that create clutter — making it much easier to find the people you want to talk to & contact them in an instant, said Microsoft. On mobile, now there will be 3 buttons at the bottom of the app — Chats, Calls, & Contacts. Removing ‘Highlights’ & ‘Capture’ provides “a cleaner & more efficient user interface (UI)” that is easy to navigate while still providing all the functionality Skype customers want.
For the desktop, it has moved buttons for Chats, Calls, Contacts, & Notifications to the top left of the window, making it easy for long-time Skype users to understand.
Stressing on the fact that Content is king, Microsoft has toned down the visual range of the gradients & reintroduced a simplified Skype “Classic” blue theme — adjusted for contrast & readability. It has also reduced some of the more decorative elements — such as notifications with a squiggle shape cut out — which weren’t core to getting things done. The result is a more elegant experience that brings your Content to the forefront now, said Microsoft.
Image Credit: Microsoft
