5 Ideas to Improve Zoom
Disclaimer: In this post, I share my experience using Zoom; this isn’t a feature requests list for a Product Manager @ Zoom :-)
Have you been using Zoom to communicate with your co-workers, friends, and family? After 2020, most of us have used some type of videoconferencing software, and since Zoom is the market leader, you’ve probably used it.
I have used Zoom quite a lot this year, but it hasn’t always been easy to use. I keep thinking there’s so much to improve about its user experience.
Some of Zoom’s features aren’t relevant for everyone, or for every user’s journey. However, a PM should have a better understanding of the user journey, the market, the competition, and the business environment before suggesting product enhancements. Additionally, you should go through all the 5 stages of design thinking at least once before you start improving your product.
With that in mind, here are my five ideas to improve Zoom.
1. Stop making app installation required to use Zoom
Since Zoom doesn’t provide web client out-of-the-box, users need to install the app on every device they use: mobile, tablet, PC, etc. Consider the following use-case: you have a new tablet, and you need to log into a Zoom meeting. The following steps are required beforehand:
- Download the app
- Install the app
- Enter your login details
But that can take a while and even make you late for your meeting! Not that if you’re hosting a meeting, there is an option to show a “Join from your browser” link for participants so they can bypass the application download process, but this option is disabled by default, and it’s difficult to find. Wonder why? Read more on this on that below.
Installation is required both to join a meeting and host a meeting.
How would I improve this flow? I’d provide a web client as the default option. It’s easier to access the meeting, and it reduces friction, especially for people who are not yet using your product.
2. Enable an easy way to switch accounts on the same device
During lockdown myself, my wife and two of our daughters used Zoom to communicate with teachers. Since we’re sharing similar devices, I wanted an easy way to switch accounts, but currently, Zoom doesn’t have that capability. Every time you switch an account you need to remember your login/password and since we’re not on the web our password manager which auto-fills passwords won’t assist.
How would I improve this flow? I would add the ability to manage multiple Zoom accounts on the same machine with two clicks, similar to Gmail.
3. Make the invitation flow simpler
Suppose you’re in a meeting and you want to add someone else who doesn’t have the initial invite. If you have their email address this should be super-fast; however, in Zoom we have three options and none of them are very user-friendly:
- Manage your contacts in Zoom — click the name of the contact to invite them, I find this option overwhelming because you should add a contact and receive approval from them before it appears on your contacts. In personal settings this seems like too much work, however, in a corporate it could work because the contacts could be synced automatically.
- Use your email service to send the invitation — this isn’t great since it sends you back to your browser/email client.
- Copy/paste the invitation — this is nice but still distracting since it forces you to switch to your IM/Email application to send the invitation, which again causes the user to lose focus.
How would I improve this flow? I’d add the option to directly send an invitation on behalf of the sender, just put the email address or enable the option to connect with my email service contacts so I can use existing contacts.
4. Increase advanced settings in app
Did you know you can add live captions to your meetings? I didn’t even know about this option or how to set it up until I Googled it. But you can only access these advanced settings via the web interference of Zoom.com. Once you access those settings by clicking a tiny link on the application settings, you can find dozens of additional settings that don’t appear on the Zoom app!
How would I improve this flow? I’d expect to control everything from one place and make it easy to find a setting in the app itself or the web configurations. To reduce the complexity for naïve users, I’d create an advanced section for each type of setting.
5. Update Zoom’s old-fashion and out-of-date UI
Zoom’s UI is outdated, especially when compared to other products. If you look at other tools such as Whereby, you realize how slick and intuitive a web conferencing tool can be.
How would I improve this flow? I’d uplift the user interface, so I wouldn’t need to explain to my father again and again where to click to open his web camera.
What is your favorite video conference tool? Is it Zoom? Do you like it? Share your thought in the comments.
