Zalo is hands down the most popular messaging app in Vietnam with more than 100 million users.
It can be said that Zalo in Vietnam is like WeChat in China, KakaoTalk in South Korea, and LINE in Thailand.
Vietnamese users have no lack of access to alternatives like Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, and Viber. Then what makes Zalo so great?
Here are 4 creative features that Zalo has pulled off.
Smart suggestions for stickers
Zalo’s stickers are cute. But that is not what makes it special. I am talking about a small feature that goes a long way in improving the sticker usage experience.
When I first created the family group chat on Zalo, I was surprised by how savvy my parents (who were in their 50s and 60s) were with stickers. They always respond with the most “bad-ass” stickers possible.
I soon realised that it was thanks to Zalo’s keyword-based sticker suggestions. In the example below, as I was typing “mệt” (which means tired), the natural language processing (NLP) engine had identified my intention and presented me with a row of stickers that could not be any more apt.
In contrast, Telegram, which is also known for its vast collection of cute stickers, has quite a learning curve. Users need to spend some time familiarising themselves with the different collections in order to fine-tune their sticker picks.
Suggestions for reminders based on chat history
NLP is at work again for this feature. Based on the message content, if there is a mention of a time/date, the app will suggest you create a reminder.
Alternatively, users can manually create a reminder from the app menu.
My guess is the logic is largely rule-based. There is probably a dictionary of time-related words that will trigger the “create a reminder” suggestion.
After the reminder is created, there is a preview displayed in the chat window as below.
With more work discussions happening over chat, the ability to create a reminder from a message makes it much easier to manage action items that can sometimes be scattered in the chat history.
Task assignment based on chat history
On the same note, the ability to assign and manage tasks based on chat conversations is undoubtedly a useful workplace productivity feature.
On the PC version, I can right-click a message to create a task or do so manually via the app menu. All the basic elements of task management are present: task details, assignee(s), and due date.
I can find all the tasks assigned to me under the “Zalo To-do” thread, a convenient way to manage all tasks in one place.
Polls in group chats
A function to create a quick poll to vote on team lunch ideas, outing venues, weekend movies, etc can come in handy for families, groups of friends, and colleagues.
Again, users can either manually create a poll from the app menu or have the app give them poll suggestions if their messages contain “vote” and “poll” related words.
What I wish Zalo to have
Peer-to-peer payment
With ZaloPay, a mobile wallet product from the same parent company, I am waiting for more combined features between the two products, similar to how WeChatPay and WeChat are integrated.
Since Zalo already has a huge existing user base that converses on the app on a daily basis, a peer-to-peer payment use case seems like a natural fit.
Spell-check/ grammar-check function
As Zalo also positions itself as a workplace communication tool, a spell-check/grammar-check feature could go a long way in helping users compose professional messages.
Final Thoughts
Zalo’s scope goes beyond messaging. In fact, it is a social media platform with multiple touchpoints to other e-commerce use cases like vehicles, real estate, transport, etc
However, from the perspective of a communication app, Zalo has introduced creative features that make the user experience much more enjoyable and meaningful.
