Designing Systems for Human Collaboration

Written By Shiqi Liu

Redesigning Tencent Meeting to improve communication, accessibility, and system efficiency across devices

Problem

As remote collaboration becomes the norm, meeting platforms must handle increasing complexity. However, existing systems often fail to provide clarity and efficiency.

Key issues identified:

  • Low accuracy in real-time transcription

  • Difficulty accessing and managing meeting content

  • Limited multi-device flexibility

  • Inefficient file sharing and post-meeting workflows

  • Unclear interface structure and navigation

Insight

The core problem is not feature limitation—but system fragmentation.

Users are not struggling with meetings themselves,
but with:

  • unclear information structure

  • disconnected workflows

  • lack of feedback and continuity

Remote collaboration requires systems that are intuitive, continuous, and context-aware.

Solution

I redesigned Tencent Meeting as a more integrated and intelligent collaboration system.

Key solutions include:

  • Improved real-time transcription accuracy and accessibility

  • Multi-device login and seamless switching

  • Intelligent meeting summaries and action extraction

  • Enhanced meeting history with search, tagging, and filtering

  • Clear pre-meeting and post-meeting interaction flows

  • Optimized navigation and interface clarity

Process

This project followed a research-driven and system-oriented design process:

1. Research

  • Market and competitor analysis

  • User interviews and questionnaires

  • Identified key pain points and opportunities

2. Problem Definition

  • Synthesized usability issues

  • Identified system-level inefficiencies

  • Defined redesign goals

3. Design Strategy

  • Focus on clarity and efficiency

  • Improve information architecture

  • Integrate intelligent features

4. Iteration & Design

  • Low → high fidelity design

  • Multiple interface versions

  • Interaction flow optimization

5. System Thinking

  • Connected user needs with business model

  • Designed scalable features (enterprise, subscription, AI tools)

What I Learned

This project taught me that designing collaboration tools is fundamentally about designing systems, not screens.

Key learnings:

  • Clarity is more valuable than adding features

  • System consistency is critical across devices

  • AI features must enhance—not complicate—interaction

  • User experience is deeply tied to workflow continuity

I learned to think beyond UI and design for scalable, real-world systems.

Shiqi Liu
Next

Designing with AI, Not for AI