I agree with many of the observations in the deck, but how would you go about prioritizing the most impactful improvements? Is there a best in class method of quantifying how UX hurdles?
How Zoom works [slides]
121–130 of 149 posts
Re: How Zoom works [slides]
#122When everything is chromium there is no competitive advantage for any of these chat applications. For example, before, Skype used to be based on the Qt framework and it used less resources and actually had more features - like universal push-to-talk and better integration into the OS. Welcome to the future - lets Javascript all the things... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SCfNhyIo_U
> used less resources and actually had more features I remember the time when there was a native client for Skype on Linux. It probably used less resources, yes, but it was horribly lacking in features compared to Windows or MacOS native clients. Now that everything is javascript, Skype on Linux works great, apart from being a godawful resource hog. I found it really pleasant to use over the last several years. Video…
So why did they force everyone else to use the Javascript version instead of only Linux? Why didn't they just improve the Linux version.
I use Skype everyday for work and my quality of life is noticeably different in a bad way :(
Plus, my poor laptop is now forced to run Skype, Zoom, Slack, Google Docs, and Discord. Its turned into a cooktop...
Re: How Zoom works [slides]
#123When everything is chromium there is no competitive advantage for any of these chat applications. For example, before, Skype used to be based on the Qt framework and it used less resources and actually had more features - like universal push-to-talk and better integration into the OS. Welcome to the future - lets Javascript all the things... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SCfNhyIo_U
What I liked best about the old Linux Skype client, was that it would let me edit messages after sending. But not only mine, everyone's!! My friends were sooo annoyed. Good times where had!
Re: How Zoom works [slides]
#124Earlier quoted context omitted.
> used less resources and actually had more features I remember the time when there was a native client for Skype on Linux. It probably used less resources, yes, but it was horribly lacking in features compared to Windows or MacOS native clients. Now that everything is javascript, Skype on Linux works great, apart from being a godawful resource hog. I found it really pleasant to use over the last several years. Video…
So why did they force everyone else to use the Javascript version instead of only Linux? Why didn't they just improve the Linux version. I use Skype everyday for work and my quality of life is noticeably different in a bad way :( Plus, my poor laptop is now forced to run Skype, Zoom, Slack, Google Docs, and Discord. Its turned into a cooktop...
> Why didn't they just improve the Linux version.
You know, write once, run everywhere. It's programmer's dream :-)
Re: How Zoom works [slides]
#125I was surprised they didn't mention that after clicking 'Leave Meeting', a popup comes up with a 'Leave Meeting' button in it, that actually leaves the meeting. This inevitably means in every single Zoom meeting that everyone says goodbye and then spends a few awkward seconds actually leaving the meeting.
Better than risk of accidentally dropping out of meetings abruptly. I see many people still manage to do this and it takes a couple minutes to get them back on. There’s also the real fun one when the host ends meeting for all on accident. It’s same IRL when every says bye then awkwardly gathers belongings and leaves a conf room in silence
An alternative design, which I would generally consider superior, is to make it easy to undo leaving a meeting. (This wouldn’t work for the host under the current behaviour model, because the host leaving needs to either assign someone else to be host, or close the meeting for everyone. But you could do it this way for everyone else. Whether it would require waiting room approval again would be an interesting question, however. As usual, there are complexities to be considered.)
Re: How Zoom works [slides]
#126Earlier quoted context omitted.
So why did they force everyone else to use the Javascript version instead of only Linux? Why didn't they just improve the Linux version. I use Skype everyday for work and my quality of life is noticeably different in a bad way :( Plus, my poor laptop is now forced to run Skype, Zoom, Slack, Google Docs, and Discord. Its turned into a cooktop...
> Why didn't they just improve the Linux version. You know, write once, run everywhere. It's programmer's dream :-)
The funny thing here is that this is no small startup with limited resources.
Microsoft can have dedicated teams for each platform (perhaps Linux is not as important but certainly for Windows, macOS, android and iOS)
Re: How Zoom works [slides]
#127Modern Browser have already build in, p2p, encrypted video chat functionality. https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/WebRTC_API/... I played around with it years ago, and it worked quite good and should have improved a lot since then, so why has no one come up with a solid solution, that does not require us to route our video calls through china, or microsoft servers? I suppose the devil is, like always, i…
Something like you describe was recently featured here on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23522689
Re: How Zoom works [slides]
#128I was surprised they didn't mention that after clicking 'Leave Meeting', a popup comes up with a 'Leave Meeting' button in it, that actually leaves the meeting. This inevitably means in every single Zoom meeting that everyone says goodbye and then spends a few awkward seconds actually leaving the meeting.
There is a setting to disable it.
Re: How Zoom works [slides]
#129Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Why didn't they just improve the Linux version. You know, write once, run everywhere. It's programmer's dream :-)
The funny thing here is that this is no small startup with limited resources. Microsoft can have dedicated teams for each platform (perhaps Linux is not as important but certainly for Windows, macOS, android and iOS)
It might also be an issue with motivation. Would you want to work on something that's basically a clone, so there's no creativity but purely porting + solving annoying platform-related bugs? You'd probably tolerate it for a bit, but then it's just playing catch up all the time. It seems like a recipe for employees trying to switch away to another team or company.
Re: How Zoom works [slides]
#130Spot on. I really wonder if all those people claiming "Zoom just works, unlike x" have really believed that the first time joining a meeting, or if they're just used to its weird UX quirks.
The real innovation Zoom brought to the table (IMHO) was not requiring you to make an account to join a call. Inconsequential within a company where everyone already has a account - but critical if it's a one-off or rare call - such as a vendor talking to a customer, a hiring manager inviting someone to interview, or a doctor calling a patient.
Doesn't jitsi predate them?