SEATALK CHAT APP

Business communication platform for small and medium enterprises in Southeast Asia

Client

Sea Limited

Industry

Business Chat Platform

Services

Mobile App Design
Design System

Product Area

Business Chat Platform
iOS and Android

My Role

Product Designer

Timeline

November 2017 - April 2020

Context

The project aimed to build a new brand business communication platform on mobile to facilitate collaborations within an organization for small and medium enterprises in Southeast Asia.

Problems

Most small and medium enterprises in Southeast Asia didn’t have specific platforms to facilitate work-related communication instead of using personal contacts like WhatsApp, LINE, Messenger, and WeChat.

Combining work-related stuff and personal chat in a single platform isn’t preferred for professionals, as it would split their focus, affect their productivity, and not secure for sharing confidential company information.

Southeast Asia has rich linguistic diversity, including Bahasa Indonesia, Thai, Burmese, Khmer, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Malay, and Mandarin. Although English has become the standard language for business communication, many small and medium enterprises face difficulties expanding their business internationally due to language barriers.

Goals

Launch the mobile app internally to facilitate more than 70% of communication within the organization (Shopee, Garena, SeaMoney) across Southeast Asia, including Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

Iterate the product based on internal feedback and get the product ready for the first public launch.

Role

I led the mobile team at the beginning in designing the mobile experience (iOS and Android platforms), conceptualized the business features, and established the design system for achieving a delightful and consistent experience.

Designs

Data and research
I did a competitive analysis of the existing communication apps in the Southeast Asia market (DingTalk, WeChat, WhatsApp, LINE, Google Hangouts, and Lark) to identify the basic features in building the standard communication app.

Define and conceptualize the MVP
From the analysis, I defined the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) features of communication platforms: chat list, single and group text, media (image, voice, video, links), reply, multi-selection, forward, voice/video call, and location. I started the MVP design by creating the UX flows and wireframes.

Defining the basic features of the chat platform by analyzing patterns of existing apps, then determined the MVP features from the analysis.

Creating the first high-fidelity prototype
I determined the basic elements (type, spacing, and colors), design components, and patterns. My team and I translated the UX flows and wireframes into high-fidelity designs with clickable prototypes. I did the iterative design process and validated the early concept with usability testing.

Designing the high-fidelity designs and the clickable prototypes.

Usability testing and advanced features
I did the usability testing internally to get early feedback and validate the design approach. From the feedback, users would expect more advanced features supporting team collaborations, such as translation, self-destructing messages, chat stickers, file sharing, task management, and collections.

Translation message
By leveraging the Google Translate API, users can translate messages into a selected language in app settings. It supports 6 languages: English (default), Bahasa Indonesia, Vietnamese, Thai, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese.

Translation message using the Google Translate API.

Whisper message
The business environment often deals with confidential information through text messaging. It allows the user to switch their messages into whisper mode by using a self-destructing message that will expire after the selected duration once it’s opened.

Whisper message in working environment for confidential information via text.

Sticker message
Adding free sticker sets to the communication platforms would facilitate warm and enjoyable interactions, expressing their emotions during a text conversation.

Sticker message provides free sticker sets to express themself in text conversations.

File message
It is a common practice in a team or organization to exchange files or documents. It is essential to have a secure and efficient way to manage this process. Therefore, we have invested heavily in developing a user-friendly and reliable cross-platform experience for sending files and documents.

File message to send files or documents securely and efficiently cross-platform.

Task management
During the usability test, users shared their problems remembering important text messages they got during their busy day. I proposed a new messaging feature allowing users to save and manage important messages in their personal “Task-to-do” lists.

Task management to remember important text messages.

Collections
We got feedback from users that sometimes they got interesting messages they wanted to revisit during their free time but forgot where to find them again. I proposed to add a new messaging feature that allows users to save them in collections.

Collections for saving interesting messages.

Building a design system
After a year and a half of countless usability tests and design iterations to improve the experiences and interfaces, the team established the design system to ensure consistency across features. I was responsible for revisiting all implemented designs and finding a common pattern that could be unified and simplified, starting from the basic elements, components, and design patterns.

Deign system when developing the messaging features for the mobile platform.

Outcomes

The platform was launched internally and successfully facilitated more than 70% of the 30,000 employees across Southeast Asia (Shopee, Garena, SeaMoney). As a result, they experienced vast improvements in communication, closer collaboration, and productivity.