Discussed the top Mail related problems users had during the recent
"First Usage" Usability Study. A usability study was conducted a few
weeks ago which looked at some of the common actions users perform when
installing and first using the Netscape product.
The first issue we will deal with is: Contents of the Mail Thread
Pane/Message Thread Pane when an Account Level item is seleted.
When an account is migrated and Mail is launched for the first time, the
Thread Pane and Message Pane area are blank. The account(s) are
collapsed. I believe the default account level is selected. Users are
confused as to why no mail is visible. Users clicked on the "Get Msg"
button to access their mail. Because the account level is selected (and
not an Inbox), nothing visually changes to the user in the Thread Pane
(it remains blank). Users had to be told to expand the account and
select the Inbox to see their mail.
Bug 49753 - Contents of the Mail Thread Pane when an Account Level item
is seleted, covers this issue and suggests some potential solutions:
1. When the Account level is selected, display its subfolders in the
right
pane with summary info (total read/unread).
2. Don't let users select the Account Level if they can't do anything
with it.
(If there is no functionality available, don't allow this level to be
selected)
3. Display the following text in the thread pane: "There are no messages
available at this level. Please select a folder."
4. Display the following text in the thread pane: "There are no messages
available at this level. Please select a folder. To view settings for
this
account click here." (where "here" is a link to the Account Settings
dialog for
the selected account).
5. Provide static account information about the selected account and
provide a
link to the Account Settings dialogs. Becomes 2 pane mail instead of 3
pane
mail.
6. Display account information and allow the user to modify account
setting
Feedback and ideas appreciated.
