Kale.Work
A side project of mine — an all-in-one team communication to blend internal and external communication.
About the product
Kale.Work is an all-in-one team communication platform that blends internal and external communication with seamless email and chat experience to increase team productivity.
Mission & achievement
I was hired by Kale.Work as a freelance designer to work on the iOs and web app based on an Android prototype. My mission was to design the iOS and web app based on an Android prototype.
Team
UX/UI Design (iOS, Web): Tracy Tam
UX/UI Design (Android): KALE.WORK Team
Engineers: KALE.WORK Team
Period
Aug 2016 — Apr 2017
Define challenge
Kale.Work is targeting corporate clients. The idea was to demonstrate as much potential as possible to clients and customize it into however they want it to be.
In the vast and highly competitive market of email and chat services, we had to distinguish Kale.Work among competitors by user experience.
Design strategies
1. Consistent but native experience for various devices
To make the app accessible no matter what device users prefer, a consistent but native experience across multiple devices — from desktop to mobile — was designed.
Based on an existing Android prototype, I started with the ideas, wireframes, prototypes and visual design of the iOS app. The creation of web app was followed when the iOS app design is established.
2. Distinguish features by colors
All the main features, email, chat, mention, and file are built in 4 different tabs, which take one highly recognizable color each as the main color. This minimizes the efforts of users to distinguish each function from another.
3. Connect features by making sharing easier
The blended solution did not only mean putting everything on the same page. We made it extremely easy to share information in Kale.Work.
One example was to share an email thread to chat. In iPhone, users can share an email thread to chat in 2 clicks. While in desktop, drag and drop features was developed to achieve that.
4. Navigate to wherever you want while composing
The email composing window could be minimized in both iOS app and desktop. Users can easily navigate to other content and come back at any time.
Gather feedbacks
Problems to solve and features to develop were defined by conduction interviews with existing and potential clients and users. The crafted solutions were tested through prototype and the MVP product to make sure they worked well and in order to receive more feedback to improve. The loop never stops.
Testimonial & retrospective
She took the time to truly understand us and our mission as a part of our team. We didn’t just create pixels together, we crafted an intuitive experience with the help of Tracy’s deep knowledge and experience in design. Working with her was an open, collaborative and fun process. —Kelvin Ko, Founder of Kale.Work
In terms of business, it might not a winning product. The market became more and more competitive as the big names joined(Google, Outlook, Atlassian, Facebook, etc). Unfortunately, the team stopped investing in the product before the web app design is finished. The public access is closed now.
However, as my side project, I developed a lot by pushing myself to perfection. With so many team communication products in the market, what could be done more and better? Working on this project help me discover the potentials in every single detail of the experience.
