Mobile-First, Mobile-Last: How We Design for You

Work doesn’t begin and end in the office. Many of us begin working as we wake in the morning. We take calls from the car, respond to messages as we commute, and share files while walking to our desks.

A world of possibilities – as well as challenges – arise when we are mobile first.

A growing trend in product design advocates a mobile-first design approach. Designers address user stories from the physical confines of a mobile screen before translating them into larger platforms, such as desktop apps or room system interfaces. With Webex Teams, we take a platform-centric approach to optimize the experience for a particular platform rather than converting experiences from one product platform to another.

Before our mobile team tackles a backlog of features and dives into user flows, we first validate value and need based on the user’s journey. Unlike user flows, user journeys take a high-altitude perspective to identify common threads experienced before, during, and after interacting with the mobile application. This gives us the context to focus on what is most impactful to you.

Meet at dawn

Each workday, people increasingly rely on mobile devices to start the day. It is not uncommon for me to spend my commute dialed into an early Webex meeting or browsing through unread messages. With efficiency in mind, we shortened the time it takes to sync when opening or signing in to Webex Teams for the first time each day. Searching and catching up across spaces is also faster. And we’re building support for Android Auto and Apple CarPlay to make commutes are safer and more productive.

Meet on the go

Webex can create a great meeting experience in the office. The bandwidth is humming and you have ample screen real estate. But you’re probably not always in the office. Mobile devices are great for staying connected and productive while you’re on the go, but bandwidth can be spotty, if existent. Whether I’m running late for a morning meeting or traveling between buildings, I often need to join meetings from my mobile, then continue them from the conference room.

With Webex Teams, you can start a meeting on your mobile and continue it in a conference room by connecting to a Webex Device. Webex Teams also makes it easy to move the call back to your mobile device. With iOS12, we’re making it even easier to share your screen to Webex Devices and Webex Meetings by adding a share button into the meeting controls, and by adding support for Siri Shortcuts. And because you don’t always want to share video from your mobile, we are adding an option to join your meeting with audio only.

Meet in the evening

We’ve also become mobile-last workers. The end of the day draws parallels to the beginning of our day. The other side of the world is waking up while our day is ending. Just as in the morning, it’s imperative to take advantage of those magic hours where work hours overlap across time zones.

Before I finally call it a night, I make my to-do lists or peruse my calendar for the next day. To simplify this with Webex Teams, we’re building mobile calendar integration so that supported calendar services are accessible on the mobile clients just as easily as Webex Teams for the desktop. And for better peace of mind and work/life balance, we intend to support scheduled do-not-disturb to mute notifications when you’re off the clock. (I know my family will appreciate that one.)

Our mobile product team takes credence in your journey – how and when you interact with the products we design. By putting people at the center of our design process, we can iterate toward your goals, not just our own. We don’t always get it right, but we always learn – and we adjust. It’s this approach that lets us move faster, together.

Learn more about how Webex Teams can help you and your team. Get Webex Teams on iTunes or Webex Teams for Android and tell us how you’re using it to help your team collaborate.