Skype group chat

2004
Skype, interaction design, usability testing

Skype had a rudimentary one-to-one text chat feature since its launch. I was tasked to design its next generation, enhancing the concept to multiperson interaction and making the chat experience more unique and enjoyable.

Building upon concepts in modern and historic communication solutions (email, text messaging/SMS, other IM clients, IRC) I came up with a solution that connects many of their best aspects, enhancing the user experience above other solutions on the market, and building upon Skype’s technical innovations to deliver a scalable global small-world experience. I created several features seen on the above 2004 screenshot, such as action buttons dynamically appearing and disappearing upon hovering over the profile of a given user, and connecting the speech bubble with “me”. The dynamic buttons were novel at the time, but have in later years become commonplace in many interfaces.

Internal and external user testing and feedback sessions confirmed that my design choices improved the chat experience, largely because Skype’s demanding staff immediately started using the new internal versions in daily work, resulting in numerous minor corrections. The chat user experience has been enhanced in later years, but the basic concepts such as persistence and basic multiperson chat model remain unchanged.