Skype

Challenge

Reimagine Skype as a leading, immersive communication platform, differentiating it from competitors through innovative design and user experience.

Two smartphones showing different screens of a social media or messaging app, with one displaying a video call with the name Robin Greene and the other showing a collage of photos including a woman with sunglasses, a man, and various emojis.
Skype logo with a blue gradient rounded square and a white letter S in the center.

Solution

Create a flexible design system, "Acrylic," to power a feature-rich platform that fosters deeper connections, encourages collaboration, and delivers engaging content tailored to family interests.

Text on a white background reads 'Always together, everywhere' with a graphic of a blue gradient circle and a small pink square attached to the circle.
Sequence of five blue and green gradient circles, each with a white letter 'S' or a wave-like symbol, suggesting a process or concepts.
Two smartphones displaying a colorful digital messaging app and a social media app, with the left phone showing a chat conversation titled 'College Crew' featuring colorful speech bubbles and playful emojis, and the right phone showing a social media post or discussion with a text input field and a blue background.
Text on a gradient background that reads 'Big & Bold'.
Various mobile app screens showing video calls, messaging conversations, photo sharing, music playlists, and customizable themes on a turquoise background.
Skyper chat app interface displayed on desktop and mobile screens, showing active conversations and a group chat titled 'Collage Crew'.
Four smartphone screens showing a messaging app interface. The first screen displays options: Make a Call, Start Chatting, Create Highlight. The second and fourth screens show chat conversations with text bubbles. The third screen is a video call with a woman smiling.
Screenshots of a video call, chat, and messaging app interfaces on mobile devices showing various conversations and video feeds of friends and family.
A visual infographic of design principles with colorful icons and brief descriptions. The principles include vibrant color floods areas of activity to celebrate the now, fluid motion mimicking natural conversation, bold type and whitespace for clarity, and playful characters creating opportunities for expression.
A typography style guide featuring the word "San Francisco" in large bold font, with descriptions of font styles and sizes for headers, captions, and subtitles, divided into sections for iOS and Android fonts.
Color palette chart with categories for vibrant and accessible colors, displaying hex codes and color gradients including white, gray shades, black, yellow, orange, rose, fuchsia, blue, and mint, with multiple pairs of color gradients.
A webpage with two overlapping circles showing a woman with long hair, one circle with a blue filter and the other with a natural yellow background, illustrating color overlay effects.
A graphic design explaining the concept of wave shapes in motion, with colorful wavy lines at the top and example usage illustrations, including app icon and progress indicators.
Diagram explaining icon design with geometric shapes, line weights, and size measurements, alongside example icons in different styles.
A digital infographic about emojis showing a yellow face emoji with pink heart eyes, with size details, and a row of various emojis including happy, sad, angry, thumbs up, and a question mark.
Collection of colorful line art illustrations depicting various social interactions and activities, including people sitting at a table, a calendar with the number 31, a person with a pencil, a group of friends celebrating, exchanging gifts, throwing money, and working on a laptop.
An open storyboard document showing photos of a city street scene with a woman in a tan coat, graphics of a mobile messaging app interface for Skype, and a blue slide with the title 'Skype'.
Four colorful panels with words 'chat', 'find', 'share', and 'call' in large white text, each background featuring bright patterns and emoji images.

Impact

Position Skype as the indispensable hub for family and friend interactions, increasing engagement, driving user growth, and solidifying Microsoft's leadership in group communication.

Role


Product design, brand experience, illustration

Collaboration

Punchcut