Streamlining Decision-Making in Real-Time
In today's fast-paced environment, team conversations in Google Chat often get bogged down by decision fatigue, scattered feedback, and the need to switch apps just to agree on a meeting time. This friction degrades team engagement and slows momentum.
This reality brought our research team to the pivotal question:
How can the Poll app for Google Chat™ be optimized—specifically through the /poll command and @mention functionality—to ensure seamless discoverability, intuitive creation, and real-time engagement, ultimately maximizing the efficiency of team decision-making and feedback gathering?
This case study demonstrates how my research focused on transforming Google Chat from a simple communication tool into a powerful, interactive hub for rapid alignment and streamlined decision-making, proving that critical consensus can be reached without ever interrupting the conversation flow.
Recruitment
Users who actively reply on Chat as a primary tool for communication and collaboration.
Method
60 minute 1:1 Remote Moderated IDI's via Google Meet with a Figma Prototype to simulate Chat.
Overview
Findings were leveraged to clarify post-launch copy to improve overall comprehension.
Impact
Eliminated the need for users to switch tabs or applications for polling capabilities.
Key Insights
The feedback highlighted a need for a more prominent, flexible, and visually clear poll feature that prioritizes user experience from creation to results display, with a strong emphasis on customization and addressing potential privacy concerns in a group setting.
Participants indicated an interest for straightforward poll creation with customization capabilities (similar to Google Forms). They expressed a desire for single/multiple vote toggles, controlled visability of results (private vs public), the ability to add images/colors, and previews before sending the poll into the Chat.
Customization & Personalization
1
Participants struggled to find the proposed entry point for this integration (plus bar on the right hand side of the compose bar, or typing "@poll" in the compose bar. My research directly influenced the inclusion of help text to indicate where to find the feature and how to summon it in the live environment.
Discoverability and Privacy
2
Participants indicated that the results tab was text heavy and hard to sort through. In light of this I suggested incorporating profile pictures rather than names within this display to allow for glanceability. Additionally, I was able to encourage graph and chart exports for poll results.
UI Concerns and Constraints
3
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