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Optimizing Email Systems for Efficient Knowledge Management

Explore effective email habits, multiple mailboxes, filters, device integration, and task management for knowledge work enhancement.

lkavanagh
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Optimizing Email Systems for Efficient Knowledge Management

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  1. Knowledge Management Systems • Email • Readings • Issues • Blogging • More Commentary • Evaluations of the blog process • Projects and Papers

  2. Email Systems, Uses and Habits • What email client(s) do you use? • Why? • How Long? • Multiple Mailboxes? • How Many? • For What? • Filters? • How Many? • For What? • Other Features? • Other Devices? • Social Networks • Protocols

  3. Email as Habitat • Traditionally • Messaging - Communication • One to One, One to Many Communication • Increasingly • Information Management • Access to Documents • Address Books - Contacts • Portal for (Networked) Information • Coordination and Collaboration • Tasks • To Do’s • Reminders • Workflow • Document Creation and Editing • Meeting Planning and Coordination

  4. Email as Habitat 2 • PC Users Spend Most of Their Day in their Email Application • Defining “Knowledge Workers”? • Support Staff • Personal Information Management • To Do (Marking up or Sending to Oneself) • Contact Management • Project Tracking • Email for EVERYTHING?

  5. Email as Habitat 3 • Too Much of a Good Thing • Filters • Folders • Searching May Be Faster • Time to File • Time to Find • Searching Not Helping to Build (Traditional) Conceptual Model of Tasks or Messages

  6. Email as Habitat 4 • Types of Folders • Who – Sender • Where – Organization of Sender(s) • What – Project • Personal Interests • Professional • Private • What Else? • Archives • Templates

  7. Email as Habitat 5 • Problems with Email Applications • Folder Organization • Sorting • Finding • Filtering • Easier to Set up • Filter after Reading or Event • One Application Not Suited for All Users • Outlook - Outlook Express • Status & Occupation • Roles and Responsibilities

  8. Email as Habitat 6 • More Exposure to Email Use = More Checking Email • Alternate Devices • Always-on Devices • More Experience = More Feature Use • Different Features for Different Users • Different Features for Different Uses • Projects • Types of Tasks

  9. Improving Email • Threads of Messages • “Conversation Tree” • Automatic vs. Manual Configuration • Types of Conversations (GIBIS) • “Thrasks” • Individual (feedback) • Group (assignments) • Views & Visualization • Oldest/First at Top (contrast with blogs) • Multiple Windows, Icons, Graphics

  10. Email Overload: Exploding PIM • New Uses Causes Overload • Task Management • Personal Archiving • Asynchronous Communication • Study of Mailboxes and User Interviews • Does Speed/Reliability of Email Transmission and Replying Change It’s Use? • Conversational • Accountable • Email not “One touch” (informational) • Changes Work Throughout the Day • Constantly Checking

  11. Sequence & Reply Relationships • Messaging is a type of conversation • What are the characteristics of a conversation? • How are conversations conducted in other media? • Envisioning email as conversations adds context and removes redundancy • Time • Complexity of topic • Number of participants

  12. Models of Conversations • Sequence Model • First • Before • After • Tree Model • Root message • Replies to root • Any replies • Replies to replies • Visualization for each • Mailing lists could be improved

  13. Taking Email to Task • Many of us work out of our InBox • Email becomes task-centric, not just info • Actionable • Trackable • Study looked at “live” email use • Filters are a key • Examine Addressing and Threads • Watched email triage

  14. Task Results • Quick responses • Offline research or task required before reply • To Dos • Events later • Delayed, dependent to dos • Overload measure • Number of threads/day + length of intervals between messages in threads • Message drift out of view in a mailbox • Context is lost

  15. Task Problems • Keeping track of concurrent actions • Your to dos • Others, dependent todos • Marking items as more important • Managing email over time • Managing deadlines and reminders • Collating collections of messages • Application switching & window mgmt • Task overview needed

  16. TaskMaster • Keeping Track of Concurrent Actions • Marking Items • Managing Activities Over Time • Managing Deadlines and Reminders • Collating Related Items and Associated Files and Links • Application Switching and Window Management • Getting a Task-Oriented Overview Easily

  17. TaskMaster • Helping with Overload • Number of Threads • Frequency of Related Messages • Assigns Meta-Information • From the Thrask View • Within an Open Item (Contact Info) • Warning Bars • Action Clusters • Task-Specific Contact Lists

  18. TaskMaster

  19. Reinventing Email • What Kinds of Messages are Suited for (Current) Email ? • What Other Types of Messaging Tools? • Instant Messaging • Newsgroups • Document Management • Annotations • Approval • Distribution Lists

  20. Reinventing Email • Separation or Integration? • Messages • Address Book – Contacts • Documents • Links • Web (other) • Indexing and Classifying Email • Logging (transaction, permission, task) • Searching (internal, personal, external) • Ranking (most email currently equal)

  21. Redesigning Email for 21st Century • Little Change – GUIs & Attachments • Overloaded & Overwhelmed • Slow Response – No Response • Loss • No One Solution • Multiple Features • Appropriate for each User, Organization or Task • Improved Interface & Interaction • Timelines • Document Summarization • Annotations

  22. 21st Century Email Interfaces

  23. Bitfrost • Categorizing Messages from Inbox Automatically • “Programming” Filters Too Difficult • Categories of Interest • Improve on Known Email Use • Four Types of Users • Filters vs. Losing Sight of Email • Understanding Automatic Categorizing Difficult for Users • Too Much Categorization? • Categories vs. Folders • New Messages Difficult to Deal With • Notification vs. Filing or Hiding

  24. MailCat • Filing with an Intelligent Assistant • Adaptive Text Classifier for Guessing (3) Folders • Action Classifier? (Maxim’s Memory Based Retrieval Matching) • 80-90% Accurate • Filing Can Compliment Searching • How Many Actions to File? • Multiple Locations (Aliases, Links) • Simple (Only) Interface (“Move To” buttons)

  25. Ishmail • Support 3 Basic Methods • Don’t File & Search • File Frequently in Many Mailboxes • File Intermittently • Server-Based with IMAP extension • Filtering • Alarms • Mailboxes • Incoming & Outgoing • Interface with Multiple Windows/Views • Deferral of Message (Sending) Delivery • Archiving – Periodic & Stack • Personas

  26. Email Protocols • POP • Decentralized Storage • Personal Archives • IMAP • Centralized Storage • Server Archives • How Will New Devices Extend These Protocols? • Filtering as Ringtone? • Caller ID • How Will P2P or other Collaborative/Cooperative Technologies (or paradigms) Change Email Use? • Always On (for Categorizing, Filtering and Automatically Respondng)

  27. Email on the Desktop • Integrate Mailboxes with OS File Structure • Group Files and Messages in Interface • Provide Direct and Indirect Manipulation of Information • Centralized on Servers • Synchronized with All Devices (PIM Hub)

  28. Email Use Improvement • New System Evaluation (for Improvement) • Real Users • Actual Work • Difficult to Get Individuals to Switch to New Applications or Technologies • Current Features Not Used • No Learning Curve for Critical Application • Lock-in vs. Import/Export • More Difficult to Get Organization To Switch • Installed Base • Migration • Licensing • Training

  29. Email Issues • Email should be used for email • Offload messages for other tasks to the appropriate applications • To Dos • Contact Information • Documents • Projects • Tasks • Threads • Update intervals • How often do you check? • How often do you act?

  30. Paper and Projects • MIME & Web server based application specific email (and attachment) handler and viewer • Designs for working with email threads • Trackback for email • RSS newsfeeds instead of email • How email fits into a framework for KMS and Users

  31. FLANNEL • Adding Computational Capabilities to Email • Email is traditionally just text, in chronological order • Improve Endpoints: Sending & Receiving • Interfaces • Improve Medium: Protocols & Infrastructure • Web Server – HTTP

  32. FLANNEL 2 • Features • Translations • To Do List with Tracking • Dynamic Signature (or other) • Links (Keyword Searching) Integrated • Workflow • Processing While In Transit or Upon Receipt • Based on Sender, then Receiver? • More Decisions to Make When Sending?

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