Go with the Flow: How Users Monitor Incoming Email

ID
TR-2005-22
Authors
Anthony Tang, Nelson Siu, Lee Iverson and Sidney Fels
Publishing date
September 20, 2005
Length
4 pages
Abstract
We have only a limited understanding of how users continuously monitor and manage their incoming email flow. A series of day-long field observations uncovered three distinct strategies people use to handle their incoming email flow: glance, scan, and defer. Consequently, supporting email flow involves providing simplified views of the email inbox and mechanisms to support the revisitation of overflow messages.