Improving Zoom

Having had experience of using Zoom on my tablet for a distance workshop and church services, I have found Zoom horrible to use in many ways. As someone with experience in human computer interface and human factors (I am Professor of Human Factors and Philosophy in Information Systems at the University of Salford) I understand that these horribilities (!) are a consequence of decisions by the designer Zoom's user interface, and I understand what it should be possible to change in Zoom. I offer these suggestions for the future.

Maybe Zoom will take up these suggestions. Or maybe there is a different software team, who might take these suggestions and build the thing that replaces Zoom by being so much smoother and useful in facilitating conversations?

What Could be Improved in Zoom

What I need to do.	How Zoom makes it difficult	My suggestions
When internet speeds are poor I want to be able to mute and unmute my own microphone and camera - to mute when poor, and unmute for the few short seconds I want to speak. But I cannot.	To control muting, I have to: Click on the video screen. Keep clicking until ... The icons for tools appears at bottom. In some screens it never appears! Then look for the mic or camera button. Aim my finger at it and hit it. It should turn red or white to show muted or unmuted. If if does not respond, I hit it again - often once too often and thus get the wrong state! Grrr!	Have mic and camera buttons always visible and clickable without going into a menu.
Be absolutely certain whether I am muted or not. So I can speak privately, and then back publicly, at will.	Whether I am muted or not is not always clear. Sometimes - but only sometimes - a little crossed-out mic appears on my own picture. But my own picture is not always showing.	Have mic and camera buttons always visible and clickable without going into a menu.
Be able to see all participants at one glance, even if tiny.	Zoom gives me either one main one (the host or the person speaking), or sets of four at a time. Down the bottom is a row of tiny dots that I have to hit with my finger to get onto another set of four. Often I get the wrong one! And I don't know which dot to hit for which people. In any case, the sets of four are not stable; they often change. Moreover, the row of dots is where the line of icons normally is, and I have the latter then I cannot see or operate the dots. I cannot get rid of the line of icons, in order to get the row of dots, but must wait until it times out - so I cannot get to the people I want until it's too late. There is another way to get to the next or previous set of four: swipe to left or right - but that often does not work. Grrr!	Even on phone, have a tiny video picture of all participants, just like on a laptop. Not a picture, because most don't have any picture set up. It should be possible technologically because with tiny video pictures require only a fraction of the data traffic of a full-screen one.
Want to send text message (chat) quickly without faff.	To send text, I have to: As with muting, I have to go through the following palava: Click on the video screen. As for mutiing, keep clicking until The icons for tools appears at bottom. In some screens it never appears! THERE IS NO CHAT NOR TEXT-MESSAGE ICON! To get to Chat I have to know it's inside the 'Participants' facility! Hit Participants Go down to bottom left. Hit 'Chats' button. Up comes the chat text line, with the option of whether to everyone one one person. When I begin typing, nothing happens! Because I have to first hit my finger inside the chat box. (Why does it not make the chat box sensitive from the start?!) Once I have done this, I type my message and hit send - that part works well!	Want a Chat icon/button available all the time. Also, when I hit my finger on the video pic of a person, I want to have the option of sending a text message to them. By the way: Since I would like several options of what to do in relation to a selected person, the 'too-obvious' technical solution is to put a menu in to select what I want to do. But that wastes time. During a conversation I want to be able to react to people immediately and courteously, not faff with several layers of menues! I suggest something better: Have a box with the various possible facilities, including the text-box for entering text already there Also, I want to be able to select a few of the people (in the normal way of selecting multiple items on a tablet) and send the message to those people. See Suggestion.
Want to be able to 'raise my hand' easily and quickly, and also lower it ditto.	As with muting, I have to go through the following palava: Click on the video screen. As for mutiing, keep clicking until The icons for tools appears at bottom. In some screens it never appears! THERE IS NO RAISE-HAND ICON! To get to Chat I have to know it's inside the 'More' facility! Hit More. Hit 'Raise Hand' (or lower hand).	Why cannot there be a Raise-hand icon always availalble?
Want to be able to Like or Clap easily and quickly.	As with muting, I have to go through the following palava: Click on the video screen. As for mutiing, keep clicking until The icons for tools appears at bottom. In some screens it never appears! THERE IS NO LIKE OR CLAP ICON! To get to Like / Clap I have to know it's inside the 'More' facility! Hit More. Hit Like or Clap icon.	Either have Like and Clap icons always available. And/Or when I hit the video pic of someone, have a Like facility as well as a Send-text facility. See Suggestion.
Suggestion: When I click on the video pic of a person (or have selected several), then be given the following options: Send text IMMEDIATELY to that person (those people). Reasons: (a) Why text? Sometimes I want to send a message via the visual channel of text instead of the aural channel of voice - it well known in HCI circles that we can get more and better information flow and better memory retention if we use two channels in parallel than if we restrict ourselves to one. (b) Why immediate? Conversation is a flow of immediate responses, not a stacatto sequence of interview questions-and-answers. Indicate Like IMMEDIATELY. Reason: (a) Why Like? Like is non-intrusive tiny communication. (b) Why immediate? Conversation is a flow of immediate responses, not a stacatto sequence of interview questions-and-answers. See (some of) their details. Reason: Conversation is not just the pushing out of information but is with people, and in Zoom might be with people we don't know well. Often I might want to be reminded of something about a person, such as which institution they represent. Send other message to them, e.g. bring up emailer, to send a more substantial message, with their details, if available, already filled into the emailer. Reason: I want to compose the message right now, while I think of something, before it flies out of my mind, and maybe send it. Get more substantial information about them, e.g. bring up browser, with their details, if available, already filled into the emailer or browser. Reason: The conversation might have sparked off something and I want find out more, either about the person or about something else. I want to do this WHILE I THINK ABOUT IT, before it flies from my mind. See them in a larger video pic from now on (maybe their pic occupying four of the normal pix). Reason: (a) Why larger video pic? I might want to focus on a person and be slightly visually impaired. (b) Why occupying four normal pix? The 'too-obvious' solution is to present them full-screen, but then I don't see the others. My suggestions of occupying four (or any other number) of other boxes, is to allow others to still be seen on screen. Furthermore, at least the two "immediately" facilities should NOT require going via menu. Therefore I suggest that the dialog box includes: A text box for entering the message, with the onscreen keyboard (if in use) already made ready, with a 'Send' button. An icon for Like that when hit does NOT need another 'OK' or 'Send' action. A few of the details the person that are not available on the main screen. A settings wheel icon next to it to be able to select which such details will be shown. Including my own label for them. Button to click to show them in larger from now on, or restore to normal size. Button to click to send email. Button to click to bring up browser.

The following work well and I like:

What I want	What Zoom does.
To see who is speaking.	Green box around the video pic of whoever is speaking. And green filling of mic on participants list.	(But when the speaker of in a different set of four this does not appear, so I cannot see who is speaking - and do not know if I do not recognise their voice. So let's have all participants on one screen.)

What I want

What Zoom does.

To see who is speaking.

Green box around the video pic of whoever is speaking.

And green filling of mic on participants list.

(But when the speaker of in a different set of four this does not appear, so I cannot see who is speaking - and do not know if I do not recognise their voice. So let's have all participants on one screen.)

Created: 10 April 2020. Last updated: