From inaccessible to irresistible: transforming virtual meetings.
As part of their productivity & communications platform, Viora aimed to take virtual meetings to the mainstream, changing perceptions about the technology. My research proved that in realizing this ambitious goal, accessibility was paramount. How could we make the inaccessible, irresistible?
Role: Product & UI/UX designer
Duration: 2 years, June 21 - June 23
Apps: Figma, Lottie, Trello, Jira, Adobe
The problem
Virtual meetings have the potential to elevate communications & productivity into a different dimension, but stigmas & user apathy meant one of the most promising new technologies seemed impenetrable to many. How could our small team change perceptions?
The objective
To design a virtual meetings system that anyone can use, regardless of experience, feeling natural right away, whilst delivering a fresh, exciting & valuable experience. As the premium feature of the Viora productivity platform, we needed to build a prototype to inspire excitement.
1: Research
As part of my research for the wider Viora platform I was interested in current attitudes towards virtual meetings, particularly regarding productivity.
How did users envision virtual technology enhancing their working lives & what might that look like?
What were the key objections & pain points for everyday users regarding this technology?
What would it take to make our platform attractive to the widest audience possible?
After consolidating my research, some important key foundational design mandates became clear:
Viora meetings should not be restricted to VR headsets. Being able to easily access meetings from a laptop or phone would be key.
Meetings should mimic real life, using a minimal UI & embedding features in ‘real world’ tangible items rather than behind menus.
Participating in virtual conferences should demand as little input & previous experience (say from gaming) as possible.
2: Conceptualize
Armed with intelligence from my research, I was able to establish how accessibility should manifest throughout all of the core features:
Easy seated meetings
During meetings attendees would be automatically seated, able to look around simply by moving their mouse or using their touch screen.
Easy interactions represented by tangible objects
Rather than designing complex menu systems, features would be found in easily recognizable items. Accessing them would be as simple as looking at them.Switch to video at any time
Catering to all users, we would offer the ability to create video meetings in addition to virtual. Further to this, we would incorporate the option to switch to video at any time.
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Sketches & scamps
Before starting on wire frames I tested many different approaches for the layout. As a meeting UI must be dynamic, I encountered many interesting design challenges, leading to a range of iterations.
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Wire frames
After sketching & establishing a range of different approaches towards to the meeting HUD & UI, I continued to explore some key concepts with basic wire frames to establish structure & content.
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Simplifying the interface
After my explorations it was clear that minimizing the UI was key. Ensuring immersion & accessibility was of central importance, so preserving on-screen real estate became my core mandate.
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Exploring styles
With the meeting interface stripped down, I began by conceptualising ideas, exploring styles & colour. I decided to move away from a dark theme as it would not fit the style of the wider platform.
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Finished UI
Bringing over the colour palette & styles I established for the wider platform, I used glassmorphism effects for the meeting UI, providing a stylish skeuomorphic, natural appearance.
3: Final designs
A consistent experience
Maintaining a consistent experience for the user, from sign in to participating in a virtual meeting was key. Ensuring that Viora’s visual identity would translate over to virtual meetings was paramount, so the design system had to be flexible, covering multiple channels effectively.
A UI within a UI
An interesting challenge ensuring platform-wide consistency was the in-meeting smart watch. It needed its own distinct UI & style, but feel familiar as a component of the platform. I used a familiar smart watch dark theme whilst retaining key elements of the wider design language.
Innovatively immersive
To ensure a seamless convenient experience, users can access their work group during meetings using their virtual tablet. This approach ensured complete immersion ensuring users would not have to leave the meeting to refer to information or shared media.
4: Outcomes
By 2023, the first complete prototype version was complete. It was being used internally by 3 institutions for their internal coms. New additions including the virtual tablet & smart watch, plus finished UI were met with universal acclaim & enthusiasm.
The project had secured 2 million in seed funding. Senior management were now in talks with major investors to bring the project to the mass market.
Viora has been demoed around the world at major events like the DAVOS world economic forum & even the NBA in the United States.
Reflections
I am proud that we were able to complete the prototype version of the Viora virtual meetings system & get it into the hands of users. It was met with great enthusiasm & disbelief that it was created by such a small team.
Particularly when viewed as part of the wider Viora project, this was an enormous personal challenge & an invaluable learning experience. Delivering it with such limited resources required us to adapt, learn & think outside of the box in order to innovate & design something exciting.
