Synology Chat
Transform the way you communicate.
Overview
Synology Chat is a messaging service that runs on Synology NAS and transforms the way you collaborate with colleagues. Chat reduces the time users spend on composing emails and optimizes companies’ internal communications.
MY ROLE
From January to June in 2016, I worked on the wireframe provided by the Product Manager to design the visual style and optimize the operation flow, based on its functionality and prospects.
Goal
We are keen to create the ultimate messaging software for enterprises, and create the design guideline and assets for Synology Chat.
Time
Jan – Jul 2016
My Role
UI/UX designer
Platform
Web Application
Create the enterprise-grade messaging service, integrating the advantages from various software on the market.
By researching the social software on the market, we categorized them into two. One is chat-oriented, such as Line, Slack, and Skype. The other one is post-oriented, such as Facebook, Yammer, and Google Plus. We have conducted internal brainstorming and discussions and summarized the below points.
- How to manage user message and to further utilize the content?
- For a certain topic in group chat, how to make people focus on its discussion without the interruption of other messages?
- How to define the message privacy internally for enterprises?
- How to integrate with Synology’s other collaboration software?
- Visual style and effects
Manage your messages and conversations
First we have sorted the messages into two sections.
1. Messages visible to everyone in the channel.
2. Messages collected in users own folder.
We then designed features corresponding to each section.
Visible only to the owner
Only the owner reads the messages. Messages are categorized into subscribed threads, bookmarks, reminders, and scheduled.
- Bookmark
- Message reminders
- Schedule send
Visible to everyone in the channel
All members in the channel will be able to edit content in this section. Messages are categorized into pinned, files and URLs.
- Pinned messages
- Threaded messages
- Share Files & URL
Manage your data all in one place
We centralized all messages into one place. The functions enable users to efficiently manage massive messages and documents at ease, and further improve users' productivity.
Focus on a specific conversation
We pin an important message as a Post, allowing channel members to discuss on that message. Members who have replied on a certain message will also subscribe to that message by default. That is, all replies on that message will be easily traced by the user without missing any details.
Integrate with other Synology collaboration software
There are a few packages included in Synology collaboration software, which are MailPlus, Chat, Drive, Office, and Calendar. They are integrated with each other to provide powerful services. For example, the date/time format in Chat will be auto-detected and users can click and create an event in Calendar. Also, different bots from Drive and Calendar will push notifications into Chat. A few more applications will soon be integrated in the future.
Encrypted Channel & Conversation
Administrators can flexibly turn on the end-to-end encryption feature, allowing users to set a passphrase for private channels and conversations. All the encrypted messages are safely stored on the server and cannot be viewed by administrators.
Chat Desktop Application
Besides the web application, we also provided the desktop version for Windows, macOS, and Linux in 2017. This is to ensure the users' stickiness of our platform and services.
The screenshot tools allows you to capture images from your screen and share them effortlessly.
Define the visual style
Two main themes are included in Chat, which are light and dark. Users are able to change their preference, keeping the central messaging panel clear and easy to read.
UI Guideline
There are many configurations in Chat, so I have a created set of visual components and guideline, making sure the consistency of all configuration pages. Below are some examples.
