Microsoft 365 Copilot gets a major redesign and performance boost

A couple of days ago, we reported that Microsoft is working on a "Copilot Design System" led by veteran Jon Friedman who is taking on the role of Chief Design Officer. Through this initiative, the company aims to develop UX that truly makes Copilot a thought partner that is easily accessible and helps boost your productivity without feeling too intrusive. Now, it seems like some more fruits from this labor have started to make their way to Microsoft 365 customers.

Within the Copilot app, the size of the prompt box has been increased and it now offers tools and controls below this UX so you can get work done faster. Microsoft believes that this simplified interface powers a faster and more responsive experience. The company says that it understands that an interface that can't keep up with the user's demands or gives quick but incoherent answers isn't really useful.

This is why it has reworked the Copilot interface to enable principles of "progressive disclosure" through the Work IQ intelligence layer. You get an expandable pane for extra items on the left, and a prompt box that offers inline formatting options. Microsoft emphasizes that more capabilities and integrations are surfaced with context rather than being presented all at once to reduce cognitive load and make the experience easier to navigate and understand. Check it out below:

Responses are broadly grounded through Work IQ and users also have the option to choose between different AI models. These capabilities allows Copilot to adapt to your needs and surface more options as the complexity of your demand and the situation grows. Microsoft has also boasted that the Copilot app is now twice as fast and response time for complex questions has been boosted by 10%.

The Redmond tech giant is also touting strong momentum when it comes to Copilot adoption in Office apps. It claims that after rolling out new Copilot experiences, Copilot usage has increased by 27% in Word, 33% in Excel, 43% in PowerPoint, and 30% in Outlook. However, if you look at the fine print, these findings are based on sample data obtained only within a couple of days after rollout so it captures only short-term gains which may not be indicative of long-term trends.

Copilot now offers agentic experiences with new entry points, but as we know, not all of them have been very popular and the company is planning on rolling at least one of them back.

Microsoft has highlighted that its redesign highlights a shift from "individual features to connected experiences". This is also why its Copilot revamp isn't only focused on making the experience faster and decorative, but also more human. You can read additional details here.