Steven Heng

AI-Driven Productivity Tools for Remote Environment

Remote teams struggle with scattered communication, timezone confusion, notification overload, and lack of centralized task tracking.

Type

Personal Project

DELIVERABLES

Mobile Design

Year

February - April 2025

Role

UX Designer and Researcher

THE CHALLENGE

As remote and hybrid work became the norm, many distributed teams faced a common set of problems: scattered communications, timezone confusion, fragmented tools, and inconsistent documentation. Team leads and contributors alike reported that project updates were lost across multiple platforms, important context was buried in long chat logs, and scheduling meetings across time zones often led to miscommunication.

The challenge was clear: design a unified, human-centered platform that could bring clarity, connection, and control back to remote workflows—without overwhelming users with complexity.

THE CHALLENGE

The challenge was clear: design a unified, human-centered platform that could bring clarity, connection, and control back to remote workflows—without overwhelming users with complexity.

HOW MIGHT WE STATEMENT

How might we design a centralized platform that promotes clarity, fosters authentic connection, and empowers remote teams with control over their communication, collaboration, and time management?

HOW MIGHT WE STATEMENT

How might we design a centralized platform that promotes clarity, fosters authentic connection, and empowers remote teams with control over their communication, collaboration, and time management?

HOW MIGHT WE STATEMENT

How might we design a centralized platform that promotes clarity, fosters authentic connection, and empowers remote teams with control over their communication, collaboration, and time management?

INTERVIEW INSIGHTS

After interviewing 8 remote professionals across roles such as product management, design, marketing, and engineering, several core themes emerged:

01

Scattered Comunication =
Mental Fatigue

Juggling multiple platforms for chat, meetings, and task updates drains focus and increases the risk of missing key information.

02

Timezones =
Constant Friction

Scheduling across time zones creates delays and misunderstandings, often leading to missed updates or late responses.

03

Threads Get Long =
Threads Get Lost

In most tools, threaded discussions grow unwieldy over time, making it difficult to trace decisions, find context, or onboard new collaborators.

04

AI, If Transparent =
Useful

Users expressed interest in AI features like summarization or task extraction but were cautious about automation that felt opaque or uncontrollable

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

A review of existing tools revealed a clear gap in solutions that effectively balance asynchronous clarity, human connection, and centralized control—especially for distributed teams. While platforms like Slack, Notion, and Teams each address parts of the remote workflow, none offer a seamless experience across communication, task management, and time zone coordination.

Flux is uniquely positioned to fill this gap by integrating Smart Threads, Time Zone Awareness, and a built-in calling and support system—delivering on the core values of clarity, connection, and control.

INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE

These outline the core navigation structure of Flux, organized around four main pages. Each section branches into key features that support remote teams in managing async clarity, centralized control, and meaningful collaboration.

01

Dashboard

Acts as a central hub, surfacing key activity across channels, meetings, and notes.

02

Channels

Supports deep async communication via threaded discussions, tagging, and filtering tools.

03

Meetings

Centralizes scheduling, participation management, and post-call summarization for synchronous sessions.

04

Notes

Allows users to consolidate meeting outcomes and decisions, with linked threads and actionable insights.

DESIGN

AI-Summarized Thread

This interaction highlights how Flux supports fast and seamless access to AI-generated conversation summaries within Threads. When a discussion becomes lengthy or complex, users can tap "Show Summary" to instantly surface a concise recap of the key points exchanged in that thread.

Update Thread Status

This interaction highlights how Flux supports fast and seamless access to AI-generated conversation summaries within Threads. When a discussion becomes lengthy or complex, users can tap "Show Summary" to instantly surface a concise recap of the key points exchanged in that thread.

Contextual Note Sharing

lets users highlight content from docs or notes and share it in chat as a clickable reference, enabling traceable, source-linked discussions.

Timezone Hover

shows a teammate’s local time on hover, making cross-timezone coordination effortless and unobtrusive.

Sync to Thread

allows users to bring specific conversations into a thread for better organization and traceability. By syncing relevant messages, teams can centralize discussion history, ensuring context isn’t lost across chats.

Meetings to Notes

captures meeting discussions into linked, summarized notes with key points and action items. Users can disable AI summarization anytime, maintaining human control and verification.

WHAT I LEARNED

FLUX was deeply personal—I built it based on my own experience working remotely during my second internship. I realized how often things get lost across tools, time zones, and threads.

Through this project, I learned how to design for asynchronous team dynamics, prioritize clarity and focus, and balance AI support with human control.

A professor I tested with suggested incorporating team "pulse" features—reminding me that even in async environments, emotional insight and alignment matter just as much as productivity.

Next Project

BILLY DUVALLE

®2024

BILLY DUVALLE

®2024

AI-Driven Productivity Tools for Remote Environment

How might we design a centralized platform that promotes clarity, fosters authentic connection, and empowers remote teams with control over their communication, collaboration, and time management?

How might we design a centralized platform that promotes clarity, fosters authentic connection, and empowers remote teams with control over their communication, collaboration, and time management?

How might we design a centralized platform that promotes clarity, fosters authentic connection, and empowers remote teams with control over their communication, collaboration, and time management?

After interviewing 8 remote professionals across roles such as product management, design, marketing, and engineering, several core themes emerged:

01Scattered Comunication = Mental Fatigue

Juggling multiple platforms for chat, meetings, and task updates drains focus and increases the risk of missing key information.

02Timezones = Constant Friction

Scheduling across time zones creates delays and misunderstandings, often leading to missed updates or late responses.

03Threads Get Long =Threads Get Lost

In most tools, threaded discussions grow unwieldy over time, making it difficult to trace decisions, find context, or onboard new collaborators.

04AI, If Transparent =Useful

Users expressed interest in AI features like summarization or task extraction but were cautious about automation that felt opaque or uncontrollable

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

Flux is uniquely positioned to fill this gap by integrating Smart Threads, Time Zone Awareness, and a built-in calling and support system—delivering on the core values of clarity, connection, and control.

These outline the core navigation structure of Flux, organized around four main pages. Each section branches into key features that support remote teams in managing async clarity, centralized control, and meaningful collaboration.

01Dashboard

Acts as a central hub, surfacing key activity across channels, meetings, and notes.

02Channels

Supports deep async communication via threaded discussions, tagging, and filtering tools.

03Meetings

Centralizes scheduling, participation management, and post-call summarization for synchronous sessions.

04Notes

Allows users to consolidate meeting outcomes and decisions, with linked threads and actionable insights.

AI-Summarized Thread

This interaction highlights how Flux supports fast and seamless access to AI-generated conversation summaries within Threads. When a discussion becomes lengthy or complex, users can tap "Show Summary" to instantly surface a concise recap of the key points exchanged in that thread.

Update Thread Status

This interaction highlights how Flux supports fast and seamless access to AI-generated conversation summaries within Threads. When a discussion becomes lengthy or complex, users can tap "Show Summary" to instantly surface a concise recap of the key points exchanged in that thread.

Contextual Note Sharinglets users highlight content from docs or notes and share it in chat as a clickable reference, enabling traceable, source-linked discussions.

Contextual Note Sharinglets users highlight content from docs or notes and share it in chat as a clickable reference, enabling traceable, source-linked discussions.

Contextual Note Sharinglets users highlight content from docs or notes and share it in chat as a clickable reference, enabling traceable, source-linked discussions.

Timezone Hovershows a teammate’s local time on hover, making cross-timezone coordination effortless and unobtrusive.

Timezone Hovershows a teammate’s local time on hover, making cross-timezone coordination effortless and unobtrusive.

Timezone Hovershows a teammate’s local time on hover, making cross-timezone coordination effortless and unobtrusive.

Sync to Thread

allows users to bring specific conversations into a thread for better organization and traceability. By syncing relevant messages, teams can centralize discussion history, ensuring context isn’t lost across chats.

Meetings to Notes

captures meeting discussions into linked, summarized notes with key points and action items. Users can disable AI summarization anytime, maintaining human control and verification.

WHAT I LEARNED

Next Project

01

Scattered Comunication =
Mental Fatigue

02

Timezones =
Constant Friction

03

Threads Get Long =
Threads Get Lost

04

AI, If Transparent =
Useful

01

Dashboard

02

Channels

03

Meetings

04

Notes

Contextual Note Sharing

lets users highlight content from docs or notes and share it in chat as a clickable reference, enabling traceable, source-linked discussions.

Contextual Note Sharing

lets users highlight content from docs or notes and share it in chat as a clickable reference, enabling traceable, source-linked discussions.

Contextual Note Sharing

lets users highlight content from docs or notes and share it in chat as a clickable reference, enabling traceable, source-linked discussions.

Timezone Hover

shows a teammate’s local time on hover, making cross-timezone coordination effortless and unobtrusive.

Timezone Hover

shows a teammate’s local time on hover, making cross-timezone coordination effortless and unobtrusive.

Timezone Hover

shows a teammate’s local time on hover, making cross-timezone coordination effortless and unobtrusive.