Design guidelines for enhancing videoconferencing experience by mitigating distractions

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced workers around the world to switch their working paradigms from on-site to video-mediated communication. Despite the advantages of videoconferencing, diverse circumstances have prevented people from focusing on their work. One of the most typical problems they face is that various surrounding factors distract them during their meetings. This study focuses on conditions in which remote workers are distracted by factors that disturb, interrupt, or restrict them during their meetings. To understand users’ pain points and needs, focus group interviews and participatory design workshops were conducted to learn about participants’ troubled working experiences over the past two years and the solutions they expected. This study provides a unified framework of distracting factors by which to understand causes of poor user experience and reveals valuable implications to improve videoconferencing experiences. Based on these findings and discussions, I suggest important design considerations for designing videoconferencing tools for effective remote work in the form of design guidelines.