Compact mode

I really like Teams. I do. But the current chat layout is not suited for professional chats. It's way to space consuming. It looks like something imported from MSN with smiley's that take half of the screen. I would say that Slack have nailed it because they focused on the ability keeping a tight window with lots of chat text visible. In Teams the window is full and starts scrolling after like 10 sentences.

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We’ll send you updates on this idea

Thomas Nimstad shared this idea · Dec 12, 2016 · Flag idea as inappropriate… · Admin →

planned ·

AdminAlex (Teams Engineering, Microsoft Teams) responded · Mar 12, 2019

This suggestion is still planned. I don’t have further updates on timing, but will share as we have them. Thanks.

Show previous admin responses (18)

needs your feedback ·

AdminAlex (Teams Engineering, Microsoft Teams) responded · Mar 12, 2019

planned ·

Suphatra responded · Dec 15, 2018

Hi everyone, thank you for your patience since the last update.

We want to extend a huge thanks to all of you who have engaged with us on this topic of compact chat. Your input has been invaluable and helped inform our design and decision-making.

As we look to 2019, we will be pursuing plans to continue to make the product more and more space efficient. We see this as a guiding design principle, as well as a backlog of requests from UserVoice that we catalogue, discuss, debate, brainstorm and problem solve.

This principle is also why we will not be making a sharp design turn towards a permanently heavy dense design. Our user base is a wide range of people — such as high school students, the visually impaired, open source developers, and your every day knowledge worker. Because of our broad reach, we must maintain a standard of usability that meets many visual needs.

Lastly, we are seriously considering a compact mode. This would be an option — a switch, you might say — that makes everything quite dense. We are entering a new phase of product development that makes this more possible than before. To that end, I’m changing the title of this request to “Compact Mode.” We’ll keep you abreast of these plans as we learn more ourselves.

Meanwhile, we really appreciate your patience, your feedback, and your support of Teams. Thank you for being part of #MicrosoftTeams!

Sincerely,
Suphatra

working on it ·

Warren responded · Aug 6, 2018

This feature is still in the works. I hope to have more info in the coming weeks.

-Warren

working on it ·

Warren responded · Jun 2, 2018

This feature request is still in the works. No additional details are available at this time.
-Warren

working on it ·

Warren responded · Apr 24, 2018

This feature request is still being worked upon. No additional updates are available at the moment.

-Warren

working on it ·

Warren responded · Mar 12, 2018

Great news everyone, we have made a first step towards a professional compact chat layout.

We have released density changes including updates to how message threads collapse. :)

There are more changes in the works to bring you a true professional compact layout.

Thank you all for the support and feedback!
-Warren

partially done ·

Warren responded · Mar 6, 2018

Great news everyone, we have made a first large step towards a professional compact chat layout.

We have released density changes including updates to how message threads collapse! :)

There are more changes in the works to bring you a true professional compact layout.

Thank you all for the support and feedback!
-Warren

working on it ·

Warren responded · Feb 12, 2018

We are still working on this. There won’t be one huge update, but instead we will release small updates over time which will help with the request.

There are two things in particular we are focusing on. One being an increase in density and two, a more compact mode.

“Density” would be a reduction of the overall white space you see on your screen.
“Compact” would be more about a reduction in overall size which is most beneficial to smaller screens and mobile devices.

I would be interested in seeing in the comments which piece feels more important to you all. The density or compact view?

If you could comment and let me know, it would be helpful information to provide to the feature team!

Thank you for all your suggestions and feedback!

-Warren

working on it ·

Warren responded · Dec 15, 2017

This is still being worked upon. I don’t have any additional update details to share at this time, but hopefully soon I will have some further details.
-Warren

working on it ·

Gino Buzzelli responded · Sep 22, 2017

Hi everyone,

I’m Gino and I’m the Product Manager that’s been hard at work to bring you a more compact chat design. First, I really want to thank you for your patience while we worked on this request. We spent months testing designs with users, reiterating concepts, and reading through your feedback, to make sure we could meet as many of your common needs as we could.

Secondly, I’m really happy to announce the changes that will be rolling out soon. We’ve made product-wide improvements to the UI that give you greater overall density. Here are some things you’ll see:
- Left rail more condensed vertically
- Gutters reduced
- Line heights reduced
- Emojis will be smaller
- Links for inline attachments

Please note that these changes will first ship on desktop, then later mobile. I’ll keep checking this forum to read your feedback as you experience the new design. We really value your thoughts and ideas. Thank you for supporting Teams!

Sincerely,
Gino

working on it ·

Suphatra responded · Jul 25, 2017

Hi everyone,

Quick update that we have made incremental changes and you should start to see those white margins becoming much thinner and chat getting more dense in the coming weeks. It will not be the fully dense mode, but it will be moderate changes so not to jar our full user base. These changes are being implemented across the board, so this is NOT a compact chat mode that is an optional setting, but permanent changes to the UI to increase density.

I’m keeping this item on the “working on it” status because we are going to continue making the product more dense overall. We’ll continue to update you as we make progress.

Big and special thanks to the hundreds of you who participated in the user research. It gave us really great information to make these permanent changes. THANK YOU!

Sincerely,
Suphatra

needs your feedback ·

Suphatra responded · Jun 6, 2017

Hi everyone! Thanks again for helping us improve the Microsoft Teams density. Your feedback is highly valued and we take it very seriously. To summarize, here’s what we’ve heard from you so far:

Not enough content visible without scrolling.
There is a lot of unused, wasted space.
Messages are not wide enough.
Emojis are too large.
Reply button takes up too much space.

We are working on changes that will be made in the coming weeks, and just need one last round of your input to help inform our design. Please click here to take the survey: https://microsoft.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1RJsc3gJjkn77mJ

Thanks again and if you have any questions on the survey, please reach out to Erin Arcuri (Erin.Arcuri@microsoft.com).

Cheers,
Suphatra

working on it ·

Suphatra responded · Apr 26, 2017

Hi everyone, thanks for your help on this item and all the feedback you’ve sent. Special thanks to the kind folks who participated in the Twitter Q&A and subsequent research studies.

We now have a design and are conducting 1:1 research testing with users. We need an even representation of demographics, so we can’t take all users. But if you are interested in possibly being someone for testing, please just email me directly (sparavi@microsoft.com) with your name, age, gender, location, industry, job title and experience with Teams (how long you’ve been using it, how often). I’ll forward that on to our research team who will intake you from there.

We’re getting closer to the finish line! Thank you for your patience and your support. Message me or tweet me if you need anything at all.

Sincerely,
Suphatra

needs your feedback ·

Suphatra responded · Mar 22, 2017

Hi everyone, reminder that we are hosting the user feedback round table on Twitter tomorrow (3/23) @ 10am Pacific Time.

To participate, just log into Twitter and follow the hashtag #CompactChat. You’ll be able to share your feedback directly with the designers and engineers who put together our framework.

If you have any questions, just ping me at twitter.com/skprufo and I can help you.

Suphatra

P.S. I would have put this live chat session in Teams, but we don’t have Guest Access (coming soon!), so for now — Twitter it is. Hope to see you there, and looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

working on it ·

Suphatra responded · Mar 20, 2017

Hi everyone,

We would love to hear your feedback. Please join us for a live round table on Twitter. See details below:

Attend a live chat with us on Twitter on 3/23 @ 10am Pacific Time. To participate, just sign into Twitter and follow the hashtag #CompactChat. When you want to contribute to the conversation, just tweet with that same hashtag. If you get confused, just tweet to me at @skprufo or Gino Buzzelli at @ginobuzz.

Thank you and looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this user idea!

Suphatra
Microsoft Teams

needs your feedback ·

Suphatra responded · Mar 13, 2017

Hi everyone, we’re working on this but we need more feedback.

We’d like to invite you to a feedback roundtable about this item. You’ll share your thoughts directly with the design team, and be shown some examples.

If you are interested, please sign up here: https://1drv.ms/xs/s!AryUNzh1ogZzif8pDcOcx2pW45I87w and in the “What feature set?” question, please write that you’re interested in the “Professional Compact Chat Layout” roundtable.

I hope to see many of you sign up and to hear you bring your voice to the design table.

Thank you for helping us make Teams better and better.

Sincerely,
Suphatra

working on it ·

Suphatra responded · Feb 8, 2017

Its happening. We’re working on this!

If you’re interested in participating in design and usability testing for this feature, just submit your info here and we’ll get loop you in: https://1drv.ms/xs/s!AryUNzh1ogZzif8pDcOcx2pW45I87w

Thanks,
Suphatra

under review ·

Suphatra responded · Jan 27, 2017

Hi everyone, this has been routed to the Design team. The suggestion is under review.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ping me via email or on Twitter @skprufo.

Suphatra
Microsoft Teams

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Anonymous commented · March 20, 2019 12:30 PM · Flag as inappropriate

Oh, MY GOD!
I have to switch to this ... RAINBOWS AND UNICORNS!

1) DISABLE F* menu on mouse hover event! Try to copy short message, it is almost impossible

2) Triple click on message - has random behavior.
B89Yt commented · March 20, 2019 1:31 AM · Flag as inappropriate

Please fix the chat, it is as stated below not good, takes to much space. Give us an compact, make it look like skype or something.
Anonymous commented · March 19, 2019 7:59 PM · Flag as inappropriate

Hurry up
asdasdf commented · March 19, 2019 3:14 PM · Flag as inappropriate

This should be your single highest priority.
Anonymous commented · March 19, 2019 10:55 AM · Flag as inappropriate

Just copy Slack and be done with it please. I love the functionality of the tabs but the chat interface is horrible.
Paul commented · March 19, 2019 8:18 AM · Flag as inappropriate

Just emulate Skype for business
Anonymous commented · March 18, 2019 9:37 PM · Flag as inappropriate

Hurry up
Anonymous commented · March 18, 2019 10:48 AM · Flag as inappropriate

This topic gets more disappointing with every 'update'. Get it together
Matt Guadagnolo commented · March 18, 2019 8:05 AM · Flag as inappropriate

hurry up with this. how are you guys so incompetent? that survey was useless.
Ulf commented · March 15, 2019 2:34 PM · Flag as inappropriate

The survey from Tuesday is missing the point: The issue is not (so much) with the teams and channels list, but with the plain vanilla text / chat conversation density!
Tim commented · March 15, 2019 6:32 AM · Flag as inappropriate

Yes, a compact mode (with a view like the mobile app) is needed. This is one reason why, I think, many in my org haven't adopted it. They like the lightweight feel of Skype for Business. Teams needs to have a mode/view like that.
Tribal Tech commented · March 14, 2019 5:50 PM · Flag as inappropriate

A compact mode is very much needed. In my previous job we used slack heavily, it was very easy to adopt. Now we are using Teams but no one takes it as their first option for communication. When I ask why am I getting emails, instead of reading a Teams post, the answer usually has to do with UX.
Anonymous commented · March 14, 2019 12:12 PM · Flag as inappropriate

I took the survey and would agree this has missed the point, we need a compact view for chats, similar to what Skype for Business currently shows. If we're being forced off Skype for Business then they should make it comparable. Take a look at Skype for Business (your own product) and design a similar view.
Yakeen commented · March 14, 2019 9:57 AM · Flag as inappropriate

Extremely disappointed in teams from a desktop perspective. Especially with respect to layout in the chat window. It looks like the client is designed for tablet use, with UI components being overly large and spaced out. It would be really nice to have a compact mode which mimics the behaviour of IRC or Slack, which spaces things minimally and looks professional.
Rafael commented · March 14, 2019 7:25 AM · Flag as inappropriate

We need an option to not auto calliopes a thread? Can you please add this feature. Also better notification option. I would like for the application to annoy me like Slack does to assure I don't miss important things. My group has a combination of Android and iOS devices and these are two of their complaints and they are fighting to move away from teams into SLACK. Also it does not play well with external GIFs
R commented · March 14, 2019 7:02 AM · Flag as inappropriate

In the Chat contacts list on the left, the line under the username for each of the contacts does not need to have a row of text from the last chat, this is so distracting. I want to be able to see all of my contacts without scrolling all the time. The text from the last chat could rarely ever be useful, it's just simply not necessary most of the time. A simple, compact list of names is all I need.
Ricky commented · March 14, 2019 6:56 AM · Flag as inappropriate

Wow, it's as if the Teams team doesn't understand the request, at all. I didn't even finish the survey because it's clear they don't get it.
Ray commented · March 13, 2019 2:17 PM · Flag as inappropriate

Must a be joke: the survey contains nothing that has any bearing on the request.
It's the message view, S****D!!

Ah well... Slack works fine.
Emmanuel Preveraud commented · March 13, 2019 11:28 AM · Flag as inappropriate

The survey in the admin reply is 404, used the link provided in a comment.
Indeed, the questions are absolutely not relevant to this topic.

So I'll continue to periodically promote my CSS customization for Dense and Compact view of chat published here: https://userstyles.org/users/727497

Not updated for a few months since it's working well enough for me day-to-day despite a few shortcomings, but difficult to improve with the current state of the html structure.
Joshua Sleeper commented · March 13, 2019 10:56 AM · Flag as inappropriate

I echo the general opinion of the comments below. Almost every suggested improvement in the survey was extremely low value to me.

I called out a handful of improvements to the teams/channels list (since that was the focus of the survey) that I'd actually find useful, but admittedly the sidebar itself is basically a non-issue right now. It could always be better, but it's already good enough.

The biggest density offender by far is the actual message view. Makes terrible use of widescreen monitors, and has a ton of useless vertical whitespace on all monitors. I encourage the UI/UX team to take a serious look at how Slack organizes threaded replies and messages in general for a much more sane, compact presentation.