Why we built Cover Videos
The short story
When I hired our 2nd product designer Rob 3 years ago, I asked him one big open-ended question:
If you could design and try just one crazy feature for Slite what would it be?
Here is what he showed me:
"What if people could record a small bubble video and attach it to any doc? It would let the author present their work in a constrained 30-second time window, and bring some life to the monotony of text-only communication."
Why now?
We've been building Slite as more than a collaboration tool or a knowledge base. We've been working and promoting remote work for years.
We are making it the ultimate remote communication tool, and cover videos are the very first brick to this journey.
Bringing a touch of humanity
We are strong promoters of written culture. Writing by default not only makes the information accessible to your team, it also makes you think better.
But sometimes, a written doc can come off as cold, or dry.
To us, trying to make remote work synchronous is a shame, we don't believe the "always on" collaboration tools are the solution.
BUT we absolutely agree remote work can lack some human contact.
The solution is to meet from time to time. In between, you now have cover videos to convey messages with a lighter touch!
They are a simple way to bring rich interaction and humanity to your remote communication.
Why should I use it for?
You tell us! Here are my favourite use cases so far:
Update your team
Introduce yourself!
Performance reviews
