Slack is a productivity platform with a mission of making working people’s lives more simple, more pleasant, and more productive. A new feature was developed with this mission in mind.
Project Details
Project Type
New feature created for the Slack platform
Project Role
Project designer owning the UX research from prototyping, to testing, and to iterations
Project Duration
80 hours
Background
Focusing on Slack as a tool to add or change a feature from a stakeholder’s perspective is strategic because it is a powerful communication tool that can lead to better outcomes that benefits the whole organization or team as a whole. It is known to be a high performing, market competitive, and favorable among many users. Slack boasts of having 20 million active users, and by the end of 2025, it is expected to have a total revenue of $4.22 billion.
Slack already does many things great, but as great as a product is, there is always room for improvement. User interviews were carried out to discover the pain points before a feature is selected to make sure the correct problem is being solved.
Highlights
Problem
100% of interviewed users stated that they were overwhelmed by the amount of Slack notifications and channels
Solution
A tool that allows customization of notifications for multiple channels at once was created
Outcome
80% of users wished this feature existed because they found this new feature useful, pleasurable, and intuitive
Research
Research Goal
We want to know about a user’s goals, motivations, and pain points regarding Slack so that we can change or add a feature that will improve their interactions with the product.
Research Methods (in order)
3 Questions survey to Instagram stories
Subject matter expert 1:1
Secondary research (and competitive analysis)
User interviews
Prototype user interviews
Research Participants
Subject Matter Expert (Slack employee)-regarding Slack features
Slack employee (different from subject matter expert)
Users familiar with Slack
Users familiar with Slack and other platforms
Social Media Survey
As mentioned before, in order to figure out a problem to solve, a survey was conducted on instagram asking 3 questions and 20 people responded.
The three questions asked were:
What do you dislike the most about using Slack?
If there is one thing you can change to Slack, what would it be?
If there’s another similar platform you use besides Slack, what is it?
After gathering responses, an affinity map was created to find common pain points. Questions 1 & 2 were most helpful and in the image below, the most telling results are highlighted.
From analyzing the affinity maps created after the survey, it was noticeable that channels and notifications were mentioned the most in regards to pain points. More insight on the different types of platforms available was also discovered. Therefore, the next step was to learn from a subject matter expert who works for Slack. I was able to learn more in detail about the product and the gain knowledge of existing features and features to come. With a more solid grasp of the product, my next step was to do secondary research and competitive analysis.
Competitive Analysis
Competitive Analysis Conclusion
Slack’s biggest competitor is Microsoft Teams. Slack’s subject matter expert shared that 95% of Slack’s competitive deals are against Teams. The product mentioned a number of times in the survey was Discord. Although the interface is most similar to Slack, Slack does not consider Discord as a business competitor because their goal is community whereas Slack’s goal is productivity.
Compared to other products, Slack’s strengths lies in its app integration capabilities, more seamless interface, customization of notifications, emojis, and more. Several weaknesses compared to other products can be cost, storage space, limited features for unpaid plans, and security.
The next step was to interview 5 selected participants in detail on the topics of channels, layouts, and notifications to hone in one a specific feature to develop. Users were also asked on specific comparison and examples of other products they can think of that would help solve their pain points.
Post In-Depth Interviews Affinity Map
Data was pulled from the interviews into post-its with two main categories: “Pain Points” and “Desires”. After the two categories were sorted, within the two categories, post-it’s were grouped into smaller categories to search for patterns and repetition. The post-its that were the most revealing are pictured above regarding users’ current overall feel of Slack and the pain points associated with it.
Although several features and many ideas were uncovered through the interviews, the area chosen to create a new feature for is one that assists the user with notifications customization because it is closely intertwined with channel frustration as well -two of the major pain points discovered among users.
HMW & POVs
I’d like to explore ways to decrease a Slack user feeling overwhelmed by notifications because it affects their workflow and efficiency.
How might we figure out a way to help users manage their notifications in a way where they feel more confident and on top of their work?
How might we reduce the time and energy it takes for users to configure their settings?
How might we make customizing settings more enjoyable for users and for them to see the value of doing so?
Slack’s Current Site Map for Changing Notifications
Mapping out Slack’s architecture for how a user can currently change notifications and what it looks like when they do so was helpful to keep in mind how to embed the new feature within Slack and also the number or steps it would take to access the feature. One method of access is by right clicking any channel as featured here.
The second method is by accessing the “Preferences” section through clicking the profile photo or by accessing “Preferences” through right clicking the workspace. The goal of learning Slack’s current structure was to develop the feature in a way that is as close as possible to Slack’s current set up for accuracy.
Must Haves for the New Feature
Most of these must haves for the new feature were incorporated. The only one that could use more work down the road is to figure out how to have users more aware that this feature exists via onboarding, tutorial, and so on.
User Persona
One persona was created because the needs, goals, and pain points are similar across the board for the interviewed users, regardless of their career background. This is helpful in taking on the persona of “Carter” as he navigates through user and task flows.
Product Development
User Flow
There are currently three ways to change notifications on Slack. Creating task and user flows were helpful in providing a blueprint to developing the wire-frames. This user flow shows the overall picture but more detail and a few changes were made in the process of creating the wire-frames.
Low Fidelity Wireframes
The low fidelity wireframes were created with in mind, the three existing ways that a user can currently access notifications settings because of Slack’s constraints and the feature should be as cohesive as possible with the product.
High Fidelity Wireframes
Users can access the feature via the side bar anytime they right click any channel and make their way to “Change notifications” and “For multiple channels”
Slack notification settings are originally laid out in a long scrollable list. The user can now either expand or collapse different notification categories as they wish.
The modal has been expanded only here for easier viewing purposes to see how the feature is embedded in “Notifications” and how a user can manage notifications for multiple channels at once.
These are a few of the main screens of the feature. Due to Slack being an existing product, the next step was to take it from low fidelity to developing high fidelity screens using Slack’s UI library and branding. A prototype was then prepared to test the 5 users that participated in the in-depth interviews.
Usability Testing
User Testing for Prototype
The purpose of the user testing was to observe how a user is able to manage changing notifications for multiple channels intuitively and if they find the new feature useful. The same five users were tested so that we can determine if we helped minimize a common pain point that they shared in the in-depth interviews.
The two flows that were tested were: muting multiple channels and creating a new section/group
After the results were organized, an affinity map was created to identify patterns and common pain points from the prototype.
Slack Feature Prototype
Prototype Affinity Map
There were three main pain points that were common among the users:
4 of 5 users were unclear on the purpose of “create a new list”
4 of 5 users had suggested either changing the placement of “Channel Notification Management” and or rename it.
5 of 5 users were in agreement to change the dragging function of the feature
In addition to the great feedback and suggestions from users, there was also positive feedback:
3 of 5 users had favorable views about the option to change notifications for “multiple channels” when right clicking a channel and appreciated a more simple version of notification preferences
4 of 5 users stated that they would use this feature if it existed and the aspects of the product they found simple, intuitive, and or enjoyable.
Iterations
The screens on the left are the screens that users were tested on and the screens on the right show the iterations made according to observations and their feedback in performing the tasks. Please note that the modals are elongated on the left to see the elements and changes clearly but are meant to be confined to Slack’s dimensions and to be scroll-able
Before
After
Moved feature placement from last to second in line for better visibility
Renamed “Channel Group Notifications” to “Notification management for multiple channels” so that the user has an idea of the function of that section
These changes are also reflected when the sections are expanded
Before
After
This shows what it looks like with the changes when creating a new group with the intention of muting multiple channels at once
“Create a new list” has been changed to “create a group of channels” for more clear verbiage
The preassigned section for “Muted Channels” has been removed to avoid confusion and the user can learn initially how to create a new group
Before
After
This is what it looks like when a new group has been created with instructions on how to group channels to a section
Dragging Feature Elimination
The drag feature has been completely eliminated for more accessibility
In order to mute multiple channels at once, the user clicks the section first, and then clicks the channels that they would like to populate the highlighted section
Wrap Up
Next Steps
If time allowed, I would have also wanted to:
have been able to more users for more accuracy to be able to identify more patterns and issues that users are experiencing.
Explore more ideas on how to embed the feature so it isn’t as buried or take as many clicks to get to it
Revisit how to make it more obvious what this feature is and does
Work on the onboarding-how do users find this feature easily and know exactly what it does
Explore if there’s an easier way to organize channel notifications apart from creating new lists
Skills that were strengthened/reinforced:
the research process and tailoring it according to need
working with company constraints like branding, UI, UX so users can have a seamless Slack-like experience
seeking product knowledge with a subject matter expert when needed and for feedback in the brainstorming process
taking into consideration the biases that may affect research outcomes
Takeaway:
This project reinforced for me that there really is always room for growth, even for a product that is already such a great product. Through the interviews, users shared many fresh ideas that would also contribute to an improved work flow and less anxiety for a user. With Slack’s prioritization of customers, it is evident that Slack will continue to come address more needs of users overtime.
Thank you
Thank you
Thanks for learning more about this feature. Please feel free to reach out for feedback, work, and or collaboration!