Slack’s Big Redesign Arrives in December

As our digital world continues to evolve, Slack is keeping pace by rolling out one of its most significant design transformations to date. This update will be released to the Stanford Slack grid on Dec. 19, 2023.

Why the change?

Over time, Slack has introduced an ever-expanding set of productivity tools. While these tools have been valuable, they’ve also contributed to the noise and clutter. Slack is tidying up its interface by adding new features and consolidating or re-arranging others — all while keeping the platform’s familiar feel. The goal is to make the tools and information that matter most easier to access and to help you stay on top of multiple workspaces.

A glimpse at what's coming

One of the revamp’s standout features is the way it centralizes information previously displayed in lists. For example, the sidebar for switching between workspaces is gone. However, you can still use the workspace switcher as an optional feature to view a specific workspace and its content. What else? When you click DMs on the new sidebar, you’ll see all your conversations in one place. New filtering options show only the messages you want to see, like unreads or mentions.

The update will be pushed out to you automatically — there's nothing for you to do, although you may need to refresh your desktop app to see the changes. If you’re in multiple Stanford workspaces, you may be surprised to see a long list of channels when you first open the app. Remember you can organize channels into collapsible sections and set sorting preferences.

Transition made easy

We’ve created a new guide to help you get familiar with the new interface. Look for some additional tips and tricks to be published soon. In the meantime, watch this short video to get a sneak peek of the upcoming changes.