Redesigning Zoom’s desktop experience
Summary
Zoom is a video conferencing solution that strives to create an intuitive and frictionless experience for video and audio calls, messaging, and webinars across platforms.
I interned at Zoom as a Product Designer for most of 2018. Not only was I able to help redesign Zoom’s desktop client, their biggest project of that year, but I also discovered my passion for design and began fostering that passion into a career.
Role
Product Designer
Date
January 2018 - October 2018
PROBLEM
The meeting quality: unparalleled
The rest: clunky and disjointed
Zoom’s desktop application is one of the most visible touch points for the brand. It’s what millions of customers interact with when not actively in a meeting. Sure you could argue that the video quality was unbeatable compared to its competitors at the time, but it was a tough sell when it came to almost everything else in 2018.
With Zoom’s rapid success and subsequent growth came the accumulation of design debt. There was a noticeable inconsistency in Zoom’s visual language.
SOLUTION
A unified one-window experience
I was part of the 6-person, highly efficient product design team during the 2018 redesign of the desktop app. One of the main design goals was to unify the growing number of product offerings into a seamless one-window experience.
Seizing opportunity: Establish a design system
We decided to build out a nascent design system and bring cohesion across the board of Zoom products — a complete visual overhaul. I provided input and utilized the design system while shipping many projects and features from sketching to high-fidelity mockups. I acted as a partner cross-functionally on strategy and implementation.
Happy experiences start with good copy
Most of my experience was heavily determined by what projects I proactively sought out and initiated. Because of this, I seized the opportunity to wear many hats.
Right off the bat, I was able to identify the lack of consistency in the copy across all user-facing products and ultimately pitched, wrote, and maintained the Zoom product content and copy guidelines during my time there. I also acted as the interim UX writer, serving as the point person for all copy in the redesign.
The perfect launchpad for my career
Zoom not only served a pivotal role in helping me realize and foster my passion for design but also helped me make lifelong friendships and unforgettable memories along the way. I am and will forever be grateful for this opportunity.