Slack

by Sufiyan Syed - 5/17/22

Slack is a messaging platform commonly used in workplaces for remote communication and collaboration. Slack has a great user experience for its purpose and I often see myself choosing to use slack over tools like Zoom Chat or Microsoft Teams. I think while Zoom and Microsoft messaging platforms try to merge their messaging platforms into their ecosystem, having slack as a standalone platform with its simplistic design and use of workspaces allows for an efficient user experience.

Moreover the interface for Slack is very minimal with their information architecture organized from left to right. The narrow column on the left contains the users “workspaces” or folders that facilitate messaging for a team or group. The panel to the right contains all channels in a workspace and direct messaging abilities. On the top left of this panel is macro information regarding the users threads, direct messaging, and saved content. On the main panel towards the right is where users can type out and read messages. Users can easily see timestamps for messages, access threads, and add reactions to messages.

I think this design increases efficiency because it allows the user to organize their messages very effectively. Once a user logs into the app, the user can easily access the column on the far left, choose a workspace and find the channel or person they are trying to message on the column next over. This interaction reminds me a lot of folder organization on a computer and I think is very memorable and learnable for new users.

Additionally, if a user has any unread content in their workspace, that category will appear white on the navigation column. With the dark purple background, this provides sufficient contrast without going astray from the minimalist color palette. It effectively visually communicates to the user that they have unread content in that category or direct message; and provides a numerical value for how many messages they have unread.

Apart from the search bar and account settings on the top, there’s not much else to the app and I think this leaves the user with a very satisfying experience. Unlike Zoom and Microsoft teams where channels and direct messages can reflect multiple teams and unassociated individuals, Slack uses workspaces so that the user can organize their contacts by teams and organizations. This is very advantageous for workplace use as the user can organize communication with multiple and unrelated teams efficiently and in an organized manner.