Slack undergoes its biggest redesign in years, introducing a new dedicated DM tab and an Activity Hub

Slack, the widely-used team collaboration platform from Salesforce, is undergoing a major redesign to enhance usability and manageability, with a special focus on Enterprise Grid Layout customers. The revamp is aimed at addressing the common issues users face, especially those who handle multiple workspaces, channels, and group chats. The updated design introduces a new Home section, which serves as the primary point of interaction, displaying channels, direct messages (DMs), and apps. It also introduces a new left sidebar, which resembles what we've seen in other alternatives like Microsoft Teams.

The redesign includes a unified DMs section for chat management across different workspaces. It mirrors traditional messaging and email apps, with all conversations gathered on the left and the active chat displayed on the right. The sidebar will also house an Activity window, functioning as a unified inbox that collates messages, mentions, and reactions from all workspaces, helping users stay updated with their activities in a single hub (pretty similar to Discord).

Slack's multi-windowing system is getting an upgrade to allow multiple simultaneous views, catering to users who multitask. A dedicated Later menu is also being introduced for efficient content saving. Previously hard-to-find features like the Huddles video chat and the "Create" button for starting new canvases or calls are being made more accessible. Slack's goal with this redesign is to evolve beyond being a messaging app and become a comprehensive work operating system, ensuring future-proofing of the platform, preparing for potential productivity enhancements, increased automation capabilities, and, especially, their new AI-powered features.