The webex interface is perfectly fine, but if you are comparing it for the use case of zoom and skype, your target interface is wrong for the tool you're using. Webex is for working on something together. Multiple users using an application to manage some piece of hardware or software for example. Zoom and skype are for talking about something together.
Let's say you get a new server. It needs several teams to set it up - storage to provision/rescan/configure disk, infosec to do domain/antivirus/dlp work, db team to get the database going. They're going to share an rdp session over webex and hand it off to each other to type commands, with everyone observing and catching mistakes. Yes, it's possible to give desktop control to someone on zoom, however that is a secondary afterthought of zoom, while for webex it's the primary function. Right tool for the job - don't transport a piano in a sports car then complain the sports car is.. not great.
I am not sure you can answer a subjective assessment with a blanket dismissal - obviously at some level the webex UI can't be completely unusable (lots of people do use it), but apparently some people just don't like it. It has what strikes me as an unpleasant installer (like BlueJeans, it seems to only work if you download an installer and run it for every call, which seems excessive somehow).
YMMV, but one of my customers has to use WebEx and it's terrible. Particularly in large calls with many people talking, it's very slow to switch video to whoever's speaking: it takes a few seconds to even realize the voice has changed, then it flips but shows a spinny loader, and by the time the video finally appears somebody else has started talking and the sequence restarts. By contrast, this is a complete non-issue for Zoom, Meet or Teams.
We use Webex at work (a very large tech company). I use it for it’s intended purposes. My issues:
1. The reaction buttons don’t indicate that anything is actually happening for you when you click them, you only can see others reactions. They’re also quite hidden when they come, make no noise so easy to miss, and don’t tie to the video.
2. The “people joined” ding is very non-intelligent. It used to be when 30+ people were queued for something to start, once it did it just dinged like crazy. Now it seems work has turned that off in a way I cannot turn back on, which means when people are late for a 1:1 they’re staring at me and I have no idea since I now have people blocking. A heuristic that would be aware of # participants, when people are joining, and batching up dings I cannot imagine would be groundbreaking research when this is your product you’re building.
3. The actual controls for video on mobile to switch camera is quite bad.
4. Screen sharing works _ok_, except it has no integration with the resolutions on both sides, Apple’s accessibility-based zoom, I’m given a red dot for a cursor but it doesn’t appear that way on the other side, and cursor tracking is extremely laggy and jumpy on the remote side despite my red cursor that’s giving me the impression of a laser pointer equivalent.
5. When someone is screen sharing, the controls for what to do with the video of others are not very good. Order is non-deterministic (afaik), not easily changed, provides few layouts, and not easily hidden.
6. When screen sharing I’m given a large list of all my windows to choose from. They’re in effectively a random order (not alphabetical, not by z-index on my Mac, etc), and the mini photo of them are usually unintelligible and difficult to pin point the one I want.
These are just some of the bad UX that I encounter daily in work usage. I could probably come up with a list of 10+ more issues without even thinking much about it, and we haven’t even touched the “interface” level issues (eg actual design).
I joined an online conference via WebEx earlier this year, made sure my audio/video were muted, and started typing my notes. The presenter stopped mid-slide and called me out because my keyboard audio was interrupting him.
I had to un-mute and then re-mute my audio to continue.
I know I shouldn't have relied on a software switch when I have a perfectly good hardware disable button, but WebEx embarrassed me in front of dozens of my peers, and I will keep that in mind whenever I get to choose what platform a meeting goes on.
Let's say you get a new server. It needs several teams to set it up - storage to provision/rescan/configure disk, infosec to do domain/antivirus/dlp work, db team to get the database going. They're going to share an rdp session over webex and hand it off to each other to type commands, with everyone observing and catching mistakes. Yes, it's possible to give desktop control to someone on zoom, however that is a secondary afterthought of zoom, while for webex it's the primary function. Right tool for the job - don't transport a piano in a sports car then complain the sports car is.. not great.