File Hover Card

Context

Lacked direction on how to drive user engagement.

The File Hover Card aimed to surface file insights for Microsoft Office files (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) to support user workflows in OneDrive. But early versions struggled:

V1: Low adoption due to narrow focus on file analysis signals.
V2: Built by a newly formed team, driven by assumptions—not user needs.It failed internal testing.
‍
I joined midway through V2 development when the path forward was ambiguous.

Team
‍Designer x 1
PM x 2
Engineering team x 1
Researcher x 1
(was brought in later
‍
‍Timeline
‍Joined in April 2019
Feature release in January 2020

My Goals

Clarifying User Value, Strategically Onboarding UX-Novice Teams

I aimed to clarify which file insights delivered true value in the user's context and guide the team from a trial-and-error approach to a user-centered foundation.

User Painpoints

Opening unnecessary files and chasing down scattered information slow workflow.

Recall a past file : Kat can’t find the right version of an old file. She’s forced to open each one.
Explore a new file : Monica drowns in search results with unclear relevance.
Track a recent file : Alan juggles multiple reports and wants status context—must repeatedly open files and switch between apps just to piece together a snapshot of each file.

Why V1 unable to engage users ?

Focus on File Analysis Signals narrowed the user value

File Summery and Viewers are included in V1. However, after reviewing previous File Card user studies, I found that the initial V1 approach focused on making file analysis signals useful in the hover card. This led to narrow use cases ultimately limiting the user value we could deliver.

Emails : Opening 52 emails to download, upload, and manually organize files.

Design Goal

Surface the "right" file insights upfront to help users quickly make informed decisions

Comprehend User Scenarios

Shift from Feature-Centric to Scenario-Centric

By redefining how users interact with files, I was able to comprehend key user scenarios and form hypotheses about their goals—providing a clear direction for uncovering core value.

Situation: Misalignment on the Value of UX

Predefined features were prioritized over addressing known UX gaps

While I saw strong potential for File Hover Card features to drive user value and engagement, moving forward was challenging. The team was set on quickly shipping a "suggested sharing" feature as File Card V2 within a tight timeline, despite known UX issues and emerging opportunities. To navigate this, I created a shared File Card V-Next evolution plan to shift the focus from immediate misalignment to future collaboration.

Led Collaborative Design Session

User Focused Ideation on V-Next features

It helped the team understand the user scenarios and pain points we were aiming to solve, while also helping me assess technical feasibility with engineers. We proposed 9 V-Next features aligned with these design principles:
‍
(1) Valuable for Office file types
(2) Lightweight to load and digest
(3) Increase collaboration in M365 Ecosystem
(4) Can be shipped in 3-6 months

Growing Cross-Org Partnership

Coherent Info Card experience across Microsoft

I reached out and collaborated with the People Card team from the Office Feed organization, leveraging their proven success to align on card coherence and apply lessons from their established design philosophy.

Socializing Design

Gathering interest in host-adaptive opportunities

Learning from the People Card team's success in driving business impact through integration across Microsoft apps, I proposed how the File Hover Card could enhance users’ daily workflows in products like Outlook and Teams. This sparked their interest in joint design.

Result

Secured Leadership Funding for a UX Researcher and User Study

With a clear future feature plan and growing cross-org interest, we secured leadership support and funding for a dedicated researcher to validate the proposed V-Next features.

From Hypothesis to Validation

Card Sorting and Interviews

In this card sorting and interview user study, our goal is testing feature proposals, validating user scenarios, and collecting direct user feedback on features. The process moves us from assumption to validation.

Finding Pattern

For the next release, we prioritized “Conversation” and “Activity Highlight” to drive engagement, as they scored highest and addressed key user needs overlooked in V1. The study also revealed diverse scenario-based needs, which led me to further clarify user patterns and typical information needs. This informed our vision of an intelligent File Hover Card that surfaces personalized, context-relevant content. Also, as expected, user testing revealed key gaps in the predefined ‘Actions for You’ features, prompting the team to shift course.