Ever since the cloud computing company Salesforce acquired Slack in 2021, it has been trying to turn the messaging app into a “digital HQ”. But in the process, the platform has become cluttered, and finding useful features can often be a tedious task. If you are added to multiple workspaces, channels, or group DMs, managing the workflow gets even more complicated. But the good thing is that the company realizes it and has revealed that Slack will get its biggest redesign ever, which will be aimed at making the app more seamless and easy to navigate through.
The platform will soon deploy this major redesign, which will change how the app looks and how it works. A new easy-to-manage layout comes with new features such as a new DM and an Activity section, according to its blog post.
Addressing the pain point the company is trying to solve with this move, Noah Weiss, chief product officer of Slack said, “We know millions of people start and end their workday in Slack, so we took great care to ensure these improvements make it a more productive and pleasant home. The new experience helps teams stay better organized, focus on what’s important, and quickly access a growing set of tools in Slack”.
Slack is getting a redesign
So, what will the new Slack look like? The blog post has shared four ways in which now Slack will be operating differently, and likely with better outcomes. The first in the list is a single view for all the important tasks, just like it does at present. In the redesigned version, this tab will be called Home and it will house direct messages, apps, and all the channels from every single workspace. The last part has been a complaint from many users as in the current version, the only way to check different channels in different workspaces is to toggle back and forth.
Next is an Activity section that is aimed to allow users time for uninterrupted work and to let them have more control over when they want to collaborate. This section will now have options to turn notifications on or off, set aside time to respond to messages, and quick access to tools such as canvas, workflows, apps, and more.
Third is a single button to access all the tools for advanced operations within the application. Users will be able to start new messages, channels, canvases, and huddles with a new ‘Create’ button. An expandable Search feature is also being added that will allow users to click on each result to see its full context without having to jump back and forth.
Finally, the design is being changed to a “simpler, more pleasant, and more productive” interface to enable the heaviest Slack user in getting their tasks done quickly and collaborate with others with ease.
The company also revealed that this new Slack design will be first rolled out to all the new teams signing up for it, while in the coming months, all the existing users will also be shifted to the new version.