What you need to know
- Slack is tweaking user profiles to make them cleaner while offering more information.
- New name pronunciation guides will explain how people should say their co-workers' names.
- The new changes are rolling out starting today but could take a few weeks for everything to arrive on your profile.
Slack is trying to make it more difficult for you to butcher your co-worker's name by adding a new section to people's profiles that can explain how they're supposed to be pronounced. The new feature is rolling out from today but will require that people add their individual pronunciation — Slack isn't figuring it out for itself.
The new addition is part of a larger revamp of user profiles, writes The Verge, with other changes being a new pop-up card interface, and more. The changes aren't huge, but they're noticeable by people who find themselves diving into Slack profiles on the daily. You can see the new look in the screenshots at the top of this page.
New features include the option to add name pronunciation guides (either by recording audio or adding phonetic spelling); a new pop-up user card UI that appears when you hover your mouse over someone's name; and reorganized fields in user profiles, which have now been streamlined to three modules: Contact Info, People (which shows who you work with), and About Me (customizable with things like languages spoken, start date, etc).
Slack says that the new pronunciation guide and pop-up cards will begin rolling out to people today, but some of the other changes could take a little while to reach everyone. If you aren't seeing the changes yet, try closing and re-opening the Slack app. But remember, those new pronunciations won't appear until the profile's owner adds them.
Love it or hate it, Slack is undoubtedly one of the best Mac and iPhone apps for staying in touch with colleagues and tweaks like these — especially the pronunciation guide — are most welcome.
