Microsoft Teams
Designing accessibility features that enhance team communication and help users overcome challenges in video calls.
Microsoft Teams aimed to enhance accessibility for employees with surface dyslexia. As part of a product management collaboration with Indiana University, we designed features to improve communication and collaboration, prioritizing inclusivity and user-centered design.
My Role
Product Designer
Team
3 Designers, 2 Product Managers, 2 Developers
Tools
Figma, Miro, Jira, Monday.com
Timeline
Sept 23' - Dec 23'
Skills
Feature Prioritization, User Journey Map, User Persona, Heuristic Evaluation, User Testing
The Problem
1 in 10 individuals lives with surface dyslexia, impacting their ability to recognize and spell whole words. This affects their confidence and effectiveness in professional communication.
How might we improve collaboration efficiency for junior employees with dyslexia by reducing reading and spelling errors during video calls?
My contribution
I spearheaded the design of 4 MVP features to improve accessibility for users with surface dyslexia in Microsoft Teams' video calls. I conducted in-depth user research, developed personas, and guided the design process from ideation to implementation.
Glimpse into the solution
Jump to the Solution
Impact
40%
Spelling errors were reduced from 5 errors per message to 3, improving overall communication accuracy.
4.75/5
User confidence ratings increased from 2.8/5 to 4.75/5, demonstrating the feature’s effectiveness.
15%
Reduced project turnaround time by standardizing workflows and coordinating cross-functional collaboration with Jira.
Our Approach
As a group, we used sprint planning, iterative design, and continuous feedback to refine features. Weekly check-ins and thorough documentation aligned us with user needs and business objectives, ensuring the delivery of impactful solutions.
Discovery
Secondary Research
To understand surface dyslexia and conduct a deep dive into the needs of underserved communities.
Digital Ethnography
To understand and analyze user behavior and interactions in digital or online environments.
Product Research
To evaluate Microsoft ecosystem's existing accessibility features supporting surface dyslexia.
Secondary research
Understanding surface dyslexia
I reviewed scholarly papers and articles to deeply understand the user group, a crucial step before designing accessibility features for them.
Surface dyslexia have a reading disorder where they struggle with whole-word recognition, leading to difficulty reading words that don't follow common phonetic rules.
Digital ethnography
What do people with surface dyslexia say?
I conducted digital ethnography by exploring Quora and Reddit platforms to gather real-time insights into their struggles.
It's not about reading difficulties; it's a constant battle with words flipping on the page.
My spelling is horrible and getting new things to stick in my memory is always a struggle.
I read or spell session as seshen; broad as brawd
Product Research
Hold on; let’s review Microsoft Teams’ existing features.
While assessing existing features in Microsoft Teams (e.g., live transcripts and live captions), I identified gaps and opportunities for users with surface dyslexia.
Live Captions
Users can turn on live captions from the meeting controls to view them at the bottom of the meeting window. However, these captions are not saved for later viewing.
Users may type or read more slowly than the usual pace. Thus, keeping up with live captions can be challenging for them.
Live Transcripts
It offers live transcription in 28 languages, allowing users to view real-time transcriptions alongside meeting content or review them at their own pace after the meeting.
Users may struggle with text size, line spacing, and background colors.
Continue post-meeting
Users can use the chat feature during ongoing meetings, and all messages will be saved in the chat section on Microsoft Teams, helping to reduce email clutter.
Users with surface dyslexia may struggle with spelling and grammar, increasing communication anxiety and participation barriers during meetings.
Research Analysis
Opportunity canvas
Through opportunity mapping, I evaluated and articulated potential opportunities, helping with the prioritization of high-impact areas and aligning the team on user needs.
By conducting research, mapping insights onto the canvas, and collaborating with stakeholders, I guided solution design and ensured a user-centered, strategic approach throughout the project.
Insights
Turning data into action
After opportunity mapping, I then translated research insights into actionable design goals, ensuring the solutions directly addressed user needs and behaviors. This approach led to a user-centered product that delivered a meaningful and seamless experience.
Contextual Word Guides
A feature that provides contextual guides for challenging words, aiding their comprehension and retention of the content.
Customizable Content Pace
The option of enabling users to process meeting content at a more suitable pace.
Messaging Support
An enhanced chat and messaging support to help communicate with confidence, ensuring that their written messages are accurate and error-free.
We designed 4 features for our users, but wait—there was a challenge. We couldn’t test our designs or gather feedback directly from our target users. So, what did we do?
We relied on WCAG 2.1 guidelines and focused on two core principles to guide our designs. To test, we simulated user experiences and gathered scores, ensuring our solutions met user needs and accessibility goals.
Ideation and Design
Design principles
These principles from WCAG 2.1 served as guardrails to ensure that our solutions effectively addressed user needs and aligned with accessibility goals.
Great cognitive accessibility
Allow users to read content at their own pace with minimal cognitive strain.
Ensure text is readable, comprehensible, and adaptable for diverse accessibility needs.
Design consistent and predictable interactions to enhance usability.
Easy to read
Use dyslexia-friendly fonts (sans-serif) and avoid images containing text whenever possible.
Ensure text meets accessibility standards:
Contrast ratio: Minimum 4.5:1 for standard text and 3:1 for larger text.
Font size: Minimum 18pt for standard text or 14pt in bold.
Feature Prioritization
To gather feedback on our designs, we simulated the user experience for other designers and developers, using Google Forms to make the testing process more accessible.
In total, we received 50 responses, with participants providing valuable feedback on various aspects of the designs. We aggregated the scores and identified the top two ideas to move forward with.
Design iterations & feedback
Given our research findings, we came up with 4 features that tackled the problem space. These spanned from adding Immersive Reader, Auto-Complete, slow mode in captions, and pinning captions features.
Final solution
Immersive reader in live caption to support messaging
Integrated immersive readers into live captions, allowing users to hover over words for a pop-up dictionary that breaks words into syllables and offers read-aloud pronunciation.
Impact
This solution improves comprehension for users with surface dyslexia, aiming for an average feedback rating of >4.5/5 and increasing adoption among junior-level English-speaking adults.
Auto-complete in chat to minimize spelling errors and offer contextual guidance.
Integrating the Auto-Complete feature into live chat to predict and suggest the next word similar to Outlook.
Impact
The auto-complete feature in live chat reduces spelling errors, boosts confidence in writing irregular words, and improves task efficiency by 40%, increasing the number of error-free messages during meetings.
Experience Overview
Although the project was incredibly demanding, it proved to be an immensely enriching journey for our group. It invoked us to stretch our limits, acquire novel abilities, and construct something capable of fostering societal upliftment.
Learnings
Accessibility is not a one-size-fits-all solution
Empathy toward users and continuous testing are crucial for creating effective solutions. Focusing on edge cases, such as surface dyslexia, can lead to benefits for all users, improving overall product usability.
Balancing Innovation with Familiarity
While innovative features like Immersive Reader and Auto-Complete were effective, their success lay in their intuitive design and alignment with familiar workflows.
Timeboxing for Efficiency
Sprint planning helped the team stay focused on high-impact features within tight deadlines. Timeboxing tasks for design, testing, and implementation not only minimized delays but also ensured steady progress, keeping the project on track.
Next Steps
Enhancing AI Integration
The next step involves integrating AI-driven tools for real-time speech-to-text corrections and grammar support to further assist users with dyslexia.
Expanding Accessibility Features
We aim to expand accessibility initiatives to assist neurodiverse users encountering difficulties such as dysgraphia and ADHD. Working together with accessibility organizations will guarantee that these features comply with global standards, fostering a more inclusive experience for all users.
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Microsoft Teams
Designing accessibility features that enhance team communication and help users overcome challenges in video calls.
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