Jerry Baker wrote:
> Jennifer Glick wrote:
>
>> 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.
>
>> Feedback and ideas appreciated.
>
>
> Why not just expand the folder automatically?
>
Agreed. I think there are a number of things that can be done.
The 1st is to expand to the Inbox automatically as you mentioned, at
least the first time the product is used (there's been some discussion
that some people actually prefer the fact that a collapsed mail server
means don't open my Inbox).
Another is to provide better feedback when there are no messages in the
thread pane. This could include a simple message explaining what's going
on. Or this could include putting something in the thread pane with a
bunch of options that can be done such as creating a new account, going
to your inbox, etc. Or it could include a folder list. There are a
number of possibilities.
Scott
