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Make "Teams" and "Chat" the same Tab

There is no reason that Teams and Chat should be different top level categories in the left navigation. They are the same thing, perform exactly the same function, and making two different items simply confuses the navigation and makes badge notifications and discoverability much more difficult to use.

Please combine Chats into the Teams tab so that you can browse all conversations in one place rather than needing to navigate to different tabs to see different conversations.

Chats and channels perform essentially the same function, which is talk to some people and collaborate. Forcing the user to check two different lists to see if somebody is messaging them is a really bad experience, it is like having two different chat apps.

This is one usability issues that makes Teams less usable for collaboration than both Slack and Skype.

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Samuel Sze shared this idea  ·   ·  Flag idea as inappropriate…  ·  Admin →

316 comments

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  • David Lim commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    There seriously needs to be an option for this. Forcing me to switch between direct Chats and Teams all the time is a bit silly.

    For people who disagree... there's nothing stopping them from grouping "Chats" as a Team. No one is asking for a messy mixed up interface. That way, you can instantly see which Channel and which User has a pending message to be read - don't force me to switch to Chats just to see who has responded, then force me to switch back to Teams to see which Channel has been updated.

  • Scott S commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    I disagree. Chat is for private conversations and Teams are for group collaboration. Combining them would cause more confusion.

  • Brandon Belanger commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    I disagree with this idea as well. As many have stated before I see a fundamental difference between how Teams and Chats are used and like the separation. The number of chats I have running at any given time would drown out my Teams and Channels.

    If there were a UI refresh that allowed for viewing them under separate lists so you could see where active notifications are (more like Slack's layout) that would be great, but under the current UI I do not support this change.

  • Michael Kuritzky Bakman commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    I agree with the OP. Having to switch back and forth between the two tabs is a hassle, especially if I have several ongoing conversations spread between them.
    It would make far more sense to unify them in a single view, with the options to filter and search if we want to find something quickly.

  • Drew commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    I think the ability to pin chats, teams, or channels to either, or both, tabs would be enough.

  • Bouke Haarsma commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Switching tabs (between Teams and Chat) takes a few seconds, which is why I dread switching. I have the latest MacBook Pro with 16 CPU cores and 64 GB memory. Switching views inside a chat application shouldn't take seconds.

  • Joe Kavanagh commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Is the last response we've gotten on this seriously 1.5 years ago?!

    My team started out using channels at first, but everyone abandoned them, favoring group chats because they exist in separate tabs.

    When we used slack, we had a number of opt-in channels that people could join if they wanted.
    Now people have no way of knowing about existing group chats, and cannot join on their own.

    Its things like this that make me long for the days we used slack.

  • Josh Brown commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    For everyone downvoting this check out Slack's interface. The request is not to combine the two features at all. The request is to put them under single high-level tab so you can view chats and Team/channel message without having to jump around to different screens.

    This DOES not mean the two would be combined, just less clicks to get to either Channel or chat messages as they would be on the same screen, but segregated.

    I personally HATE this feature in teams, it's a waste of time and makes the app significantly more clunky and requires you to constantly be switching between two screems.

    Also, what most are failing to realize is in Channel messages if you are not directly @ mentioned then the only way to see that there is activity in a channel is to go to the Teams screen...MANUALLY. I forget to do this all the time and keeps me out of the loop if people don't at mention me.

    Move them into one screen, allow for favoriting both channels and individual chats, but keep both segregated...but on the SAME screen.

    But at the end of the day I expect this type of poor UI from Microsoft. Everything MS requires far more clicks and steps than are necessary, doesn't matter the app. They are all clunky.

  • J commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    I don't agree with this idea.
    At my company we use Teams with multiple channels. A Team for each Company Department, and a channel for different projects.
    The Chat session a complete different purpose to Teams (it essentially history/talks/chat not important).
    For use the current implementation is just fine (Teams and Chat in different pages/purpose)

  • N TK commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Commuinication in CHAT & TEAMS are essetially the same - The underlying concept is the same. BUT the audience is different. To make CHAT standout, MAKE IT LOOK VISUALLY DIFFERENT.

  • Matt Wilson commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    1:1 or 1:Many chats may have nothing to do with a Team. Forcing all chats through a Team would be a step backward in flexibility of the application.

  • Chris B commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    I see lots of people don't like this and lots that do. I think it would be better, but I'd want it to be a fully configurable option and NOT the default.

  • Nathan commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    I agree. This is a ridiculous compromise for someone coming from Slack. It doesnt have to be zero sum game, let those who want it that way configure it that way, and those who dont, dont. Simple. Duplicate the teams pane into the chat pain. Think of teams as supercharged slack channels.

  • Gregg Sweger commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Sorry. Have to disagree. In our organization, the Chat and Teams features are utilized in significantly different ways

  • ED. Handeland commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    I agree. For us - chat is used for smaller, informal groups. Teams is used for mostly the department I work in. Several users get stuck on one of the tabs (chat or teams), and don't understand that there may be information or questions for them in the other.

    Sad to say, Teams has a massive learning curve compared to apps like Slack, and our non-technical users have huge problems getting a grasp of stuff like this that might be confusing, even now 2 years in.

  • Patrick Doerksen commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    I also disagree with this. It is currently very clear what the Teams tab is for and what the Chat tab is for. No need to merge them.

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