I’ve long been a critic of Skype’s UI/UX—not because I hate Skype, but because I’m an active user who wants a better experience. With Skype v6, we’ve been promised “UI improvements.” But what do these so-called improvements actually bring?
“Improvements” in Skype v6:
- Flattened icons – Not much of a change, as icons weren’t the issue.
- Flattened application icon – A trendy move, but it doesn’t improve usability.
- Facebook + IM integration – Sure, because Skype wants to know even more about you.
- Chatting in multiple windows – Finally! A feature that should never have been removed.
- Profile-picture picker doesn’t work – Sorry, but no thanks for that.
- Recent images can’t be seen – Same issue as before—still broken.
We’re supposed to be grateful for these updates, but what if Skype’s UX designers actually focused on real UI improvements? Believe it or not, some long-standing issues could be fixed with minimal effort.
One of the most persistent UI glitches? The “Offline” and “Invisible” status icons—they look nearly identical, despite being completely different from a user perspective. Being offline is not the same as being invisible. Yet, visually, they are almost indistinguishable.
If Skype truly wants to improve UX, this is the kind of issue that needs attention.