Problem Solving Online - A Comparison Study of Videochat Platforms
Written by Gala Farah, student at UCL
The challenges of remote communication
Remote meeting models are becoming ever more common since the start of the pandemic and the advent of distance learning. Popular software such as Zoom and MS Teams have several positive features to enhance the interpersonal experience, one of which is efficiency and features such as breakout rooms.
Although these meeting platforms have been essential in continuing work during the pandemic, they come with some drawbacks. The most prevalent issues are the feeling of isolation when working online, as well as being drained after a meeting rather than socially energised. A major reason for this is that many aspects of regular meetings, such as social interactions, and physically moving around an office are lost and we are stuck looking at a screen.
New platforms have come in seeking to remedy the problems posed by Zoom, based on the belief that interaction is beneficial in communication. One example is Sococo. The main selling point of this platform is that it is more interactive and thus more efficient in replicating the experience of being in person. This includes a bird’s eye view of a simulated office through which one can take their avatar and talk to coworkers’ avatars. In a workspace scenario, each person would get their own office which they can use to stay connected to the rest of the team even when doing individual work.
Many user reviews of Sococo appreciate that there is no need for formal invites for conference calls, and that the virtual rooms allow you to see who’s talking to who with the opportunity to join the conversation. However, it has not yet been studied whether these features aid communication. This project is set out to qualitatively analyse whether there is a noticeable difference between Zoom and Sococo on a short term teamwork basis, as well as the potential differences in communication between the two.
In the age of hybrid working, finding the most appropriate collaboration tools is essential for inclusion.
Gala Farah, UCL student and MTN Research Prize Winner.
The Study
A pre-screening questionnaire was sent out which took about 2 minutes to complete. This questionnaire briefly outlined the study and ensured that continuing participants consented to having their microphones on for the meeting and having to download (free) software for the duration of the study. Based on the responses to the pre-screen, 6 people were recruited for each study.
10 minutes prior to the agreed start time, a message was sent through Prolific which briefly summarised the procedure, verified the platform which had to be available to them (either Sococo or Zoom), and sent a link to the meeting room. Before posing the question, I instructed the participants to quickly introduce themselves (to the extent that they felt comfortable) to break the ice.
As the first part of the study, I wrote a riddle in the chat and said it aloud, for maximum clarity. 2 minutes were allotted for people to read and think about the question. While participants were speaking, I marked down key points where two or more people were speaking. After 25 minutes of talking, I thanked everybody for their participation and redirected them to a Qualtrics survey where they answered the questions about their team working experience in as much detail as possible.
The Results
First, I read through the responses and began noticing overarching themes and ideas, without marking anything down. Second, I highlighted passages that captured recurring themes. The final themes were: Confidence, Communication, Teamwork, and Comprehension.
Key Quotes
Confidence:
“I liked that our names weren’t as obvious on Sococo with the avatars being the main thing on
the screen, I think this made me feel more comfortable speaking up for some reason.” (P2S)
[Participant 2, Sococo Condition]
“I feel more comfortable speaking up when I know people aren’t looking at me (...) I don’t like
public speaking (P6Z) [Participant 6, Zoom condition]”
Communication:
“A few people were talking more so I think Sococo might have been useful because of the
rooms so that they could go separately to talk so that other people also can talk.” (P4S)
“Even though I still talk to people, it doesn’t feel the same as in person. But I think this doesn’t
make work more inefficient.” (P3Z)
Teamwork:
“Being online made it harder to tell when the next person was going to talk.” (P1S)
“In person, you have signs that tell you when somebody is planning to talk, so I think
interruption is more common online.” (P1Z)
Comprehension:
“Adjusting myself to the visuals of Sococo which I have not seen before was a bit distracting when trying to answer the questions.” (P6S)
“I did understand the questions, the most difficult part was referring back to them when I was speaking to the other participants.” (P5Z)
How did you feel about using Zoom?
“It was fine, but if it was in person, we could refer to parts of the question more easily and draw diagrams to help us.” (P3Z)
How did you feel about using Sococo?
“I don’t like seeing no faces on Zoom. On Sococo this is even worse because the avatars are the main thing you’re looking at.” (P6S)
Final thoughts
Although there has not yet been much research on the topic, the general themes found do align with the preliminary research. There have been studies on “Zoom fatigue”, and the elements which can impact this. Although some user reviews of Sococo give the impression of a more interactive workspace (and lack of interactivity is one major contributor to Zoom fatigue), studies have not yet been done on whether people do experience lowered exhaustion from Sococo. Many of Sococo’s features are such that you would likely only become well acquainted with the tool after repeated sessions, not on a one-off event, as they are not immediately relevant to a basic meeting structure.
Based on these results, it appears as though continued usage of the platform has the potential to lead to an eventual decrease in burnout due to the interactive elements, but for short term usage, at least for problem-solving scenarios where the participants don’t know each other prior, no noticeable differences were found. As one participant wrote: “I don’t think Sococo changed how we communicated, it was just a new experience”. One point which would be interesting for further study would be cultural differences in how people network and communicate online.
The MoreThanNow View
Well done and many thanks to Gala for conducting this great research piece! Fascinating to explore how technological innovation has the potential to improve online communication, but not without its nuances. It will be interesting to see where further innovation leads us and this should be accompanied by experiments on how people experience it!