This week Microsoft gave its customers a sneak peak at its latest app – Loop.
The app has been in the works for a while, and in 2021 Microsoft officially showcased Loop. The app is designed to simplify collaborative projects and to increase productivity, and it is able to sync various aspects of projects and it allows users to move parts of projects to other Microsoft apps such as PowerPoint, Teams, Word and Excel.
Loop has been called a “transformative co-creation experience” by Microsoft, which is a fancy way of saying that Loop is going to be used to bring teams closer together through shared content, tasks and tools.
With Loop, app users who are collaborating on projects will no longer suffer with the frustration of having to jump between pages, worksheets and whatever else they are building their project on. Instead they will have the perfect tool to organise their work and to instantly share what they are doing with other team members. Users will even be able to drag and drop items from their desktop into the Loop workspace and from there to arrange it in such a way that it is easier to work with.
What you need to know about Loop
The entire app is built around its workspace, which is the digital area in which the project folders are accessible.
The process of using Loop starts with adding a title to the workspace and from there adding a couple of keywords. Loop will then use the keywords to create a list of recommended files, documents and other helpful things which you can then add to the workspace to make it more personalised and suitable for the project you are working on.
The app will give you a better organised project and it will provide structure to the project so that it is easier to understand. With such an organised structure, new team members can quickly get to work.
Loop comes with pre-made templates and a highly intuitive design. On the workspace you will be able to create checklists as well as numbered lists, add tables and you can also add images.
Working with Loop
Unlike other collaborative project programmes, with Loop the commands can be accessed using a few keys.
When you enter “/” you will be given a dropdown menu which will give you access to all of the lists that are available, as well as headings, tables and Loop components. The programme is also being designed to work with Copilot, which you will also be able to access by pressing “/”.
By clicking “@” you will be able to access a list of suggested people and files. You will also be able to leave comments and react to the work done by others, with Loop giving you a list of instant replies as well as fun emojis.
Loop is not just ideal for structuring and building projects. It can also be an interactive brainstorming platform.
And it is not just those who have access to the project that you can share project information with. Loop will allow you to “decompose information”, which means you will be able to take parts of the project and share it to those working outside of the workspace. Doing this is as easy as copying and pasting the information into a Microsoft 365 app of your choosing, after it has been turned into a component.
You can also share pages as a live page or as a link. When doing this, the person you are sharing it with will be able to leave a response on the page. The response will then be added to the page and the update will be available in the workspace.
Loop promises to be the next big productivity app, and if you are already an avid Microsoft 365 user, Loop will be a natural fit in your productivity tool line up.
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