Kyle McGinn, director of product for Workplace.
Not content with being the world’s biggest website for people when they’re not at work, Facebook, predictably, entered the world of work with its own software. For the last few years, it's been pushing a version of Facebook called Workplace, which helps employees chat, collaborate and generally get stuff done.
It looks and functions a lot like regular Facebook, which means it’s easy to use for most people already familiar with the social media behemoth. However, that look and feel can also mean it has a less professional stigma attached to it, which has lead Facebook to make some sweeping changes.
The company teased the visual overhaul during its F8 developer conference in April. The notification experience was outdated, and the new navigation bar adds a more streamlined set of shortcuts to make navigation easier.
Kyle McGinn, Facebook's director of product for Workplace explained, "For the world of work, we needed a slightly different emphasis, slightly different UI components and a better productive workflow.”
Workplace has many built-in features, such as live-streaming that allows CEOs to deliver big, company-wide announcements and, crucially, take employee-submitted questions in real-time.
Facebook has been privately testing its redesign with select Workplace customers. At first, the feedback was mixed. Some people didn't like it, McGinn revealed, "It's the equivalent of moving the milk aisle or vegetable aisle in the supermarket. Your default learned behaviour has to change. And for the first week or two, it's pretty disruptive if you're used to shopping in that same place."
Nevertheless, change is inevitable, and the new product will be the go to option for Enterprise customers from now on. Let us know how well it’s working in your organisation.
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
