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Phil Wolff
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How good do people feel using Skype?

August 28, 2006 12:37 AM

Topics: Business | Competitors | Skype杂志 | Strategy | ebay | skype | skypejournal | voip

This is the first in a series going deeper into the "softer" business case for using Skype in the workplace. The series' launching point is the Squidoo Lens 8 More Reasons For You To Pick Skype At Work.

People ask "Why did Skype take off?" One reason: fabulous user experience. The time from click-to-download to your first conversation is short. And Skype outperforms expectations for ease of use and sound quality. First timers smile, laugh - you should see their faces in a class.

I contrast this with the first time I used the 1998 version of SAP. You attended a two-day class to learn how to fill out a simple invoice. Then promptly adjourned to a local bar to drown the frustration and helplessness.

Back to feelings. Great experiences stimulate adoption, indifferent and bad ones trigger abandonment. As true for industry as for consumer goods. Any IT manager will tell you it's hard to redeploy a product once users have puked on it. So happy, confident user experience curtails this risk.

Comparing Skype to other solutions, how well do they deliver on first impressions? Which indicators of customer delight fit this context?

Let's look at some steps in a new user's experience.

  1. Download
  2. Installation
  3. Account creation 
  4. Recognition of the dominant metaphor
  5. Acceptance of the metaphor
  6. First buddy
  7. First chat
  8. First call made
  9. First call taken
  10. First conference call
  11. Restarting without logging in
  12. First change of presence

Do users feel in charge? At each step, Skype provides excellent situational awareness (what you're doing now, what you're about to do, progress, and resolution - done or not done).

Can users figure things out? For core newbie tasks it is easy to discover how to do it, and to try things without fear. Lots of small design elements guide user attention to common tasks. And new contexts (like being in a call) emphasize the most relevant choices (like hanging up).

Do users feel smarter about Skype after using it? Positive and negative feedback so that a typical user learns more?

Do you trust Skype? If Skype was a person, it would be the nice, affable, helpful person next door. It gets there in part by soaking the user experience in an overwhelmingly soft, happy, fuzzy, warm, nurturing aesthetic. Conversation balloons. Light colors. Lots of white space.

More than this, Skype is the person who delivers. Trustworthy, reliable, straightforward. No hidden issues or personal baggage. Simple, fast, poised, and convenient.

Is Skype getting better at this? The trend may be the most important factor. Is today's Skype design more or less effective at creating "Aha! moments"? If it's better, how fast is it improving? Is it balancing feature creep with smooth activity escallation?

Extend this list; it's far from exhaustive. But you take my point. When comparing Skype to other messaging platforms, start with a product that delights the average person. That engages. And reinforces good behavior. How well does the average "smart phone" desk station with PBX score? Soft phones? Enterprise IM? Video conferencing tools? Are they more like old school SAP? Or like Skype?

Phil Wolff is managing editor of Skype Journal and a principal analyst of Skype Journal's professional services practice.

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