Remote Work
This work helped earn Microsoft “No. 1 on Fast Company’s list of Top10 Most Innovative Companies in Data Science for 2022,” and “No. 8 on Fast Company’s list of the World's 50 Most Innovative Companies of 2022.”
Remember Zoom Fatigue?
Many of us have experienced the fatigue that can come with attending meetings or classes all day. But shortly after the pandemic hit in 2020, we saw a different kind of exhaustion come to the surface. We ended our days in sort of a malaise, feeling more mentally and physically drained than ever, and it was becoming more difficult to be productive. “Zoom fatigue,” as it was called, was something new. A consequence of not designing to support humans, as much of the world had suddenly become dependent on virtual meeting technologies for work, school, and social communication.
Focused on helping Microsoft understand and improve remote work, we found that virtual meetings were more taxing on the human brain than in-person meetings, and the effects were exacerbated by having back-to-back meetings. We discovered that taking breaks, even 5 minutes, between meetings helped to reduce the build up of fatigue over the day, and actually improved our ability to focus and engage while in those meetings. These findings helped inform new settings in Outlook that allow individuals or organizations to set defaults that shave 5, 10, or 15 minutes off Microsoft Teams meetings.
Teams Together Mode
We also informed design changes in Microsoft teams to make the meeting experience feel more natural by putting participants in a shared virtual space and increasing eye contact. We found that using this new “together mode” feature significantly reduced mental workload during virtual meetings to help combat meeting fatigue.
Innovations Awards
This work helped earn Microsoft “No. 1 on Fast Company’s list of Top10 Most Innovative Companies in Data Science for 2022,” and “No. 8 on Fast Company’s list of the World's 50 Most Innovative Companies of 2022.”
More Projects
Turn Impossible Into Possible
Like how we made the world’s first fully untethered holographic computer.
Unleash Human Potential
Take it to the next level, like we did with the haptic button
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