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Better visual delineation between `Reply` and `Start a new conversation`

It's very confusing to new users that there is a difference between replying to an existing conversation and starting a new one within a channel. This is a visual thing as much as anything else. The 'reply' buttons are not naturally attractive if you just want to start typing a message. There should be a logical gap between the bottom of a conversation and 'start a new conversation'. 'Start a new conversation' needs to be separated visually, as if it's a second order command rather than a first order...reply.

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Stephen Ellis shared this idea  ·   ·  Flag idea as inappropriate…  ·  Admin →

851 comments

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  • Rick G commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Really? All this time and it's just a larger button? The reply section needs to be larger, clearly delineated and fixed in place so that it doesn't scroll out of view.

    Let's apply the Pareto rule here: 80% of the time people will be replying to an existing conversation, and starting new ones 20% of the time. Therefore: the REPLY area takes precedence. For some reason Microsoft has determined that it is a good idea to remove the borders around input boxes that clearly separate data entry areas from the rest of the text. We now get web pages that look like static magazine pages or posters rather than the interactive tools they are supposed to be.

  • Tom Beer commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Thank you!

    That looks much better - very clear differentiation now I think the affordance is fine too. I'm looking forward to doing much less coaching about how to keep replies to a thread in place.

  • Aaron commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    I thought this would finally solve the problem but in 24 hours since release, 2 of my 30 staff members have accidentally used need conversation instead of reply. The problem is clearly not fixed.

  • Mahmoud Ali commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    This feels like a temporary solution, the new button is so out of place and now kind of hides the reply action.
    It drags too much attention and it is too big, I find myself always looking at it thinking that someone mentioned me or a new message has arrived. There is definitely room for improvement here.

  • Brandon G commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    I love it! The different visual treatment helps and the "New conversation" label is very clear.

  • Anonymous commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    The reply interface needs to be clearer. People are going to hit “new conversation” as they can’t see the reply option.

  • EM commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    There are just no words.
    It looks like this thread started around Nov 1, 2016.
    4 years to decide how to best handle this issue ending in simply a bigger button to help make the issue worse.
    There are just no words.

  • MJP commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    I really like the new "New Conversation" Button approach on Desktop!

    My single remaining concern is that it doesn't default to "Advanced Editing"/Format mode.
    The main reason for this is that adding a Subject to a new post is regarded as "good practice" just about anywhere i've seen so far and this would ensure people don't forget it; or if they leave the subject line empty, it's on purpose!

    I believe the main reason this wasn't enabled on default was to save space at the bottom of the feed - which is no longer an issue with that nice button :)

  • David P commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Congratulations to those among you that never make mistakes. For the MANY of us that do, especially with this feature, ANY solution was a good one. Whether this one was the best one isn't quite as clear.

    My problem was always that the "reply" space was almost invisible and your eye (and consequently mouse [how the hell does anyone use Teams without a mouse??]) was always drawn to that space that LOOKED like the reply space but wasn't. There was no way to delete your new conversation or a way to link it to the conversation you DID want. Even the most careful in my team has made the mistake at least once! You will never please all of the people all of the time, but at the very least you will stop a LOT of frustration by many people with this change.

    Personally, the best solution would have been to make the "reply" space larger and more obvious and the new conversation space smaller - effectively switching the styles of the two areas. But at least now there's some synergy between the PC and Mobile versions which can't be bad.

    So while not a perfect solution and while it may yet draw as many complaints from those that didn't have a problem with the way it was before, I, for one, thank you from the bottom of my heart

  • JD commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Let's start with thank you. Thank you for finally doing something about this major usability problem with your platform. If this reduces the number of new conversations started that were meant to be replies by even 50% you will have given me so many hours of my life back, not to mention my sanity.

    However, honestly, considering this problem was reported back in 2017 and I know you sent a survey of possible solutions (of which this was 1) back in 2018, I'm extremely underwhelmed by this solution. It seems to me like you don't even understand why people were starting new conversations when they meant to reply.

    Having been ones of the people trying to educate a significant number of people who repeatedly make this mistake in my organisation I have found several causes, but most simply boil down to this: they can't find the reply button. Whether that's because they're slightly scrolled and therefore the reply button is below the fold, or whether it's because they're looking for the reply button at the message that they specifically want to reply to rather than at the bottom of thread - they can't find a reply button, so they assume that the big text area at the bottom is where they should be typing (despite the fact it clearly says 'start a new conversation'). I'm confident that if you put the reply button where people expect to find it and make it more prominent, you'd solve the majority of cases of this problem.

    Another 'trick' you could have employed is having the new conversation automatically open the expanded compose box as soon as you click into it - the expanded compose box definitely feels like a new post and not a reply, and nobody would expect to be able to 'add a subject' to their reply - so this would help those who have mistakingly opened the new conversation box to realise they were in the wrong place and that they needed to carry on looking for the correct place.

  • Anonymous commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    As if teams did not yet require enough clicks for all kind of actions, now I also have to click a button before starting a message in a channel? You have to be kidding me...

  • Anonymous commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Hello there,
    Not saying this feature makes the view worse, but could you at least give a choice what to use per user? If the people are OK with the New Conversation button - fine, but it should be revertible for a simple view without extra buttons.
    Thanks

  • Christian commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Hallo, I saw today the "New conversation" button in MS Teams.
    I don't understand why you created this button, since a few people are not able to use Teams correct.
    Now 99% of users who know how to use the Application have to click an aditional button in Teams to start a conversation.
    I don't know from the usability perspective if this is the correct way, since I have now to navigate with the mouse to this small button to click it to start writing. :(

    Please invest in the availability to disable this button by settings.

  • Don commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Great work on releasing the "New conversation" button but..... can we have it that the button opens up with "format" expanded mode by default and the cursor waiting for typing in the "Add a subject" field?

    Not having a subject at the start of a New conversation is like an email without a subject....making it even harder to find it later.

    If the "New conversation" button opened up with the formatting look, all the options are available after ONE click. Post in multiple channels, Announcement, Subject.....

    So the "New conversation" button is "ahlf way there" to being really effective.

  • Anonymous commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Available now in my targeteted release tenant.
    "September 11, 2020
    Push the big button
    Introducing the updated New conversation button in channels. Confidently know you're starting a new conversation (and not replying to a thread) with the new button look. The same old keyboard shortcuts will still work for you and you can find those in Keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft Teams.

    The new button is at the bottom of the channel. Select, New conversation to open the box where you write your message. Just as before, you can type a quick message and press Enter to send, or select Format Expand button to expand the box and use your formatting tools. Select Send Send icon to send your message when in the expanded mode. "

  • Jim Tuttle commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    The update is available for some clients, not sure how they determine who gets it, but yes, it's out, and it's great. Finally!

  • Adrienne Haywood commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Speaking as someone who's (many times) had to delete the new conversation I accidentally just created and paste it into the reply that was intended... I love this update. Fantastic, thank you!

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