Context

While working at Zoom during a time of massive transformation in the workplace, I joined a project focused on solving the problem of disconnection among remote and hybrid workers. Though productivity remained high post-pandemic, employee engagement had taken a hit. My goal was to design a more human-centered way to recreate the spontaneity and connection of the in-office experience—without disrupting the core Zoom Meeting and Chat workflows.

User Need

Remote workers were missing casual, spontaneous moments of connection—quick chats, hallway conversations, or simply feeling like part of a team. From interviews with enterprise customers like Humana and Walmart to creators running 24/7 Zoom rooms, I learned that users were trying to hack Zoom into a kind of always-on co-working space. There was clearly a need for something lighter than a meeting but more ambient than a chat.

Current Constraint

Zoom was in the middle of bundling its products while serving a diverse customer base—from individual creators to Fortune 100 companies. Any new experience had to integrate into the existing ecosystem without overwhelming users or competing with core features. Technically, we also had to think about how thousands of users could co-exist visually in a shared space and how to represent “presence” without always being “on.”

Design Challenge

How might we recreate the natural rhythms and social dynamics of the physical office—like joining a conversation mid-flow or just being “around” teammates—within Zoom’s digital environment, while respecting privacy and avoiding cognitive overload?

Impact

I began by conducting a multi-layered research effort: ethnographic studies at Zoom HQ to observe how in-person groups form, a competitive analysis of 13 products, and extensive user interviews from Reddit to enterprise customers. These informed a set of product principles I helped define with leadership: worthwhile, human, and optional.

I sketched and prototyped various directions for what would become Zoom Huddles—a virtual space that mimics the ambient presence of an office. I designed low-fidelity flows in Figma that let users enter a room without jumping into a conversation, much like sitting at your desk while others talk nearby. You could easily join in with a single click.

We also introduced the concept of Spaces—rooms organized by department or project—and integrated features like chat, video, and whiteboard to support active collaboration. I collaborated closely with a Senior Design Technologist to build and iterate on working prototypes, ensuring seamless integration with Zoom’s larger platform.

Zoom Huddles officially launched after I left, but the design work I contributed laid the foundation. The feature was announced at Zoomtopia 2023 and was widely celebrated by customers as a major leap forward in hybrid team collaboration.