Microsoft needed a vision for what Skype for Business could become. Not an incremental update. A rethinking of enterprise communication across every surface and form factor.
Skype for Business was losing ground to consumer communication tools that were faster, simpler, and more enjoyable to use. The team needed a vision that could compete, and earn enough internal alignment to build toward.
The existing Skype for Business aesthetic had drifted from both the consumer Skype brand and where Microsoft design was heading. We explored a direction that felt current and distinctly Microsoft while still being recognizably Skype.
Enterprise communication doesn’t live on one device. The vision had to hold up on a laptop in a meeting, a phone in a hallway, and a screen in a conference room, consistently, without feeling like it was designed three separate times.
The 55″ conference display scenario. Joining a meeting from a shared surface with full participant context.
Desktop conversation with rich presence, inline actions, and seamless escalation to voice or video.
Skype layered over business applications on tablet, contextual communication without leaving your workflow.
Contextual notifications during deep work, surfacing the right information without breaking focus.
Mobile-first notification with meeting context and one-tap actions for on-the-go professionals.
A coherent design language was the only thing that made the vision believable, not just aspirational. We built it to be specific enough to feel like a real product, not a concept deck.
Rich conversation view with integrated file sharing and meeting controls.
Business application integration with communication layer adapted for touch.
Storyboard-level planning that connected individual screens into a cohesive vision narrative.
Full multi-surface communication vision.
Distinctly Skype, aligned with Microsoft design direction.
One design language across all form factors.
Boston & remote
