I joined Skype as the lead designer for Skype’s Android client from version 2.5 - 5.x.

The integration of Microsoft Messenger contacts into Skype post-Microsoft acquisition led to inconsistent user experiences across platforms.

Objective

We aimed to address cross-platform issues in chat conversations, improve Android's chat UI to align with iOS and Mac, enhance video calling, as well as native notifications, and expand sign-in options to automatically look up contacts..

What I did

To unify chat across platforms, I introduced a more user-friendly time stamp model, enhanced video calling capabilities, improved Android notification capabilities and sign-in options, as well as provided an overall upgrade to the asynchronous chat features, such as video messages, file transfer, etc.

• Conducted heuristic evaluations of Skype’s emerging patterns

• Evaluated competitors' time stamp models and asynchronous chat features

• Researched Android’s latest capabilities in the Lollipop release to enhance video calling and multi-tasking

• Conducted user research with the research team in the form of 1-1 interviews, surveys, moderated and unmoderated user testing

• Designed wireframes, flow diagrams, specifications, content, and prototypes

• Introduced an adaptable chat style based on trending design patterns and platform expectations

Result

• Significantly increased usage of video calling and the Google Play store rating

• Introduced picture-in-picture video for multitasking while the call is in the background

• Improved notifications to show enhanced previews of text and images

• Refreshed the time stamp model to provide better context in active conversations

• Unified the chat experience across various platforms to have an aligned experience for Skype users across desktop, mobile and large screen surfaces.

See below for examples of the UI and design specifications, or go to a detailed case study (password required).