Ewok and the death of instant messaging

As I embark on the journey to create Ewok I want to share my point-of-view on where messaging is going.

At its core, Ewok is a new take on messaging for the workplace. I call it slow chat.

Look around and you’ll see change happening. As consumers, we’re demanding transparency and honesty from the services we use. The digital nomad movement is growing as we seek freedom and balance. Companies such as WeWork is gaining traction. And it’s no longer enough to pay a competitive salary if you want to attract talent.

Millennials and Gen Z are the new hippies.

The fact is we’re tired of work and technology controlling us, and tellings us how to live our lives.

My belief is that the popularity of platforms such as Slack and Messenger will decline. People have had enough of the hectic “Silicon Valley lifestyle”.

Surveys confirm this. Since 2008 the number of people that can’t concentrate at their desk has increased by 18%. Also, the number of workers who say they do not have access to quiet places to do focused work is up 13%.¹

Back to messaging. So what’s wrong with the current solutions?

• The power lies with the sender, not the receiver. As a sender, you have the power to claim somebody else’s attention and focus at any time. Be it after work hours or on weekends. The platforms encourage this behavior by sending push, email and internal notifications.
• Communication centers around groups/channels. This opens you to conversations you don’t need to be a part of. It also allows a person to communicate with no purpose or recipient, they’re simply putting it out there.
• The key performance metrics do not align with the well-being of the end-user. Those metrics are active users and messages sent. Both inhumane. To improve those metrics messaging platforms use a variety of psychological triggers. “Seen” which aims to guilt trip you into responding, thus enforcing conversation. The sent time of the message so you feel guilty for not responding sooner. The online icon to keep you on the platform. Which also triggers judgmental behavior as colleagues watch each-other. Push notifications so you answer the message you got 3 AM on a Sunday. The number of unread messages put in a red circle. A tool to get you to take action to avoid the number growing, and thus feeling a loss of control. I know this to be a fact because I have led several growth teams. Which is the team responsible for retention and activation. These are all classic tools of the trade.

With Ewok, this is different. The goal is to create a messaging platform that is calm and humane. We want to give you the power to choose when to communicate — not the sender.

To deliver on that you will find Ewok takes a different approach then what you’re used to seeing:

• Messages you have received will only be visible when you tell us you want to see them. We make no attempt to notify or show you that you have an unread message. Truth is, most communication at the workplace does not need an immediate response. Expecting, and forcing you to stop everything you’re doing so you can give an instant answer is not okay. It destroys your flow.
• A message must have one or more recipients. When you receive a message you know that it’s meant for you and that it is relevant. Getting notifications from the dev channel when you’re a designer is noise. People shouldn’t witness and partake in every single conversation. It creates FOMO. Having unread messages in different channels though they’re muted still creates stress.
• No more groups and dirty tricks. Instead, you’ll have one page for all your communication. The flaw with groups/channels is that it allows vague and unimportant messages. Which is nice if the platform cares about messages sent. Luckily, we don’t. There will also be no way to tell if a message is read or if people are online. Features designed to rush, guilt or force you to communicate will not be in the product.

You’ll find Ewok share similarities with both email and instant messaging, and purposely so. The layout inspired by instant messaging, with the pace of email.

In the end it’s about creating a platform that gives you control. And that focuses on bringing balance back to your work life… and I’m pretty excited about it!

There is so much more to talk about. But I hope this helped shed light on why I am building Ewok and that it can serve as a teaser for what’s to come.

If you’re interested in staying up to date feel free to visit ewok.io and subscribe.

¹ https://hbr.org/2014/10/balancing-we-and-me-the-best-collaborative-spaces-also-support-solitude