It’s not just Zoom. Popular video chat platforms have design flaws that exhaust the human mind and body…yet there are easy ways to mitigate their effects to recapture the attention of meeting participants.
By: Wendy Hubbard, Grant Harris, Stevie Pena, PhD, Michael Barbara, PhD
Even as more people are logging onto popular video chat platforms to connect with colleagues, family, and friends during the COVID-19 pandemic, Clicksuasion researchers have a warning for you: those video calls are likely tiring you out.
Prompted by the recent boom in videoconferencing communication, Clicksuasion Labs examined the psychological consequences of spending hours per day on these platforms. Just as “Googling” is something akin to any web search, the term “Zooming” has become ubiquitous and a generic verb to replace videoconferencing. Virtual meetings have skyrocketed, with hundreds of millions happening daily, as social distancing protocols have kept people apart physically.
In the first peer-reviewed article that systematically deconstructs Zoom fatigue from a psychological perspective, published in the journal Technology, Mind and Behavior in February 2021, Bailenson has taken the medium apart and assessed Zoom on its individual technical aspects. He has identified four consequences of prolonged video chats that he says contribute to the feeling commonly known as “Zoom fatigue.”
Bailenson stressed that his goal is not to vilify any particular videoconferencing platform – he appreciates and uses tools like Zoom regularly – yet to highlight how current implementations of videoconferencing technologies are exhausting and to suggest interface changes, many of which are simple to implement. Moreover, he provides suggestions for consumers and organizations on how to leverage the current features of videoconferences to decrease fatigue. “Videoconferencing is a good thing for remote communication, but just think about the medium – just because you can use video doesn’t mean you have to,” Bailenson said. Below are four primary reasons why video chats fatigue humans, according to the study.
Both the amount of eye contact we engage in on video chats, as well as the size of faces on screens is unnatural. In a normal meeting, people will variously be looking at the speaker, taking notes, or looking elsewhere. However, on Zoom calls, everyone is looking at everyone, all the time. A listener is treated nonverbally like a speaker, so even if you don’t speak once in a meeting, you are still looking at faces staring at you. The amount of eye contact is dramatically increased.
Another source of stress is that, depending on your monitor size and whether you’re using an external monitor, faces on videoconferencing calls can appear too large for comfort. “In general, for most setups, if it’s a one-on-one conversation when you’re with coworkers or even strangers on video, you’re seeing their face at a size which simulates a personal space that you normally experience when you’re with somebody intimately,” Bailenson said.
Until the platforms change their interface, researchers recommend taking Zoom out of the full-screen option and reducing the size of the Zoom window relative to the monitor to minimize face size and to use an external keyboard to allow an increase in the personal space bubble between oneself and the grid.
Most video platforms show a square of what you look like on camera during a chat. Yet that’s unnatural. Several studies suggest that when you see a reflection of yourself, you are more critical of yourself. Many of us are now seeing ourselves on video chats for many hours every day.
Researchers recommend that platforms change the default practice of beaming the video to both self and others when it only needs to be sent to others. In the meantime, users should use the “hide self-view” button, which one could access by right-clicking their own photo.
In-person and audio phone conversations allow humans to walk around and move. But with videoconferencing, most cameras have a set field of view, meaning a person is socially expected to generally stay in the same spot. Movement is limited in ways that are not natural.
Researchers recommend people think more about the room they’re videoconferencing in, where the camera is positioned, and whether things like an external keyboard can help create distance or flexibility. For example, an external camera farther away from the screen will allow you to pace and doodle in virtual meetings just like we do in real ones. And of course, turning one’s video off periodically during meetings is a good ground rule to set for groups, just to give oneself a brief nonverbal rest.
Researchers note that in regular face-to-face interaction, nonverbal communication is quite natural and each of us naturally makes and interprets gestures and nonverbal cues subconsciously. Yet in video chats, we have to work harder to send and receive signals. Gestures could also mean different things in a video meeting context. A sidelong glance to someone during an in-person meeting means something very different than a person on a video chat grid looking off-screen to their child who just walked into their home office.
During long stretches of meetings, give yourself an “audio only” break. This is not simply the user turning off the camera to take a break from having to be nonverbally active, yet also turning their body away from the screen. This allows the participant a few minutes to avoid nonverbal gestures that are perceptually realistic yet less socially significant.
Video fatigue is defined as being present on a video call or video meeting in terms of showing up on the attendee list, yet in terms of idea-sharing and participation, the participant is very much absent.
The absence might be daydreaming into the distance, continuing to work in the background with their mic muted and camera off, or constantly having their attention drawn away by other things popping up on their screen like emails and social media notifications. Distracted multitasking is also rife amongst those who work from home as they tend to children, deal with pets, load the washing machine, having a chin-wag with the postman, etc – all while a virtual collaboration session is going on in the background on their laptop on the kitchen table.
There are a number of reasons why video fatigue and distracted multitasking can set in, including:
At the beginning of the pandemic, when businesses and workforces were forced to pivot rapidly, video conferencing technology was a lifesaver. It enabled teams to continue collaborating, communicating and connecting, despite working remotely and becoming very suddenly geographically dispersed. Moving forward, post-pandemic and beyond, video meetings will continue to have significant benefits for the evolving workplace, expanding talent pools and fostering more flexible ways of working and more fluid company cultures. Again, though, this is a double-edged sword: with those benefits comes the increased risk of things like video call fatigue and dips in focus and concentration due to digital distractions and multitasking.
Here are some suggestions from our experts on how you can tailor your workspace and company culture to limit distraction and fatigue, and bring the buzz back to your video-based sessions.
Humans all learn, create and absorb information in different ways; some people enjoy digital work, whilst others prefer more hands-on, in-person, screen-free sessions. Video meetings obviously don’t cater for the latter so it’s important when cultivating an inclusive workplace, to facilitate all personality types. Those who do prefer analogue work will rapidly fade into the background if video sessions are the main priority. Make sure your workspace includes well-designed breakout and collaboration spaces so that people who work best sans screen can flourish too.
Video calls are here to stay, we all know that. With more remote job roles than ever before, working from home becoming more commonplace, and teams being geographically dispersed, video conferencing tech is an invaluable workplace tool. To make it work to the advantage of your business and its workforce, consider creating a dedicated space purpose-built for taking video-based calls and meetings. We fondly refer to these as ‘Zoom rooms’ and they’re an effective way to keep concentration intact, as well as limiting disturbance to those around.
Rather than treating a video call like a webinar, whereby the meeting organizer presents to everybody else, shake things up and make the session more interactive. Get everybody participating in the same way you would if it was an in-person collaboration session. If that means creating a meeting agenda to encourage all meeting attendees to interact in some way, put one together and share it around beforehand. Try these three simple things, you’ll hopefully find that video meetings become a help rather than a hindrance and that video call fatigue and distracted multitasking become a thing of the past.
