

Ask HN: What features would you like to see in Email? - fjabre

We're developing a web-based mail client which is currently integrated with Gmail. Was wondering if there are features not currently available in Gmail or your typical email setup that you would like to see.<p>Our current direction is aimed at simplifying email and how it's used (aka Facebook messages). We also want to speed up the way you find emails through UI simplications.<p>Thanks for any suggestions.
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zbruhnke
I'd like to see mail clients disappear from production ... or if people insist
on making them make them simple ... build one that does what chrome first did
as a browser.

Make it get out of the way. We do not want to see it we want it to work. Plain
and simple no "extra functionality" that we did not ask for. have it simply
interface with things we already use, whether that be services or websites and
have it let us get back to our work faster.

As it stands email is what drags productivity down in a lot of offices and
that is not what it was meant for, integrate your system where we can read and
respond no matter what computer we're on or operating system we're running
quickly and then get out of our way so we can go back to our tasks.

maybe features that will alert us to emails from certain users with a pop up
while not alerting us of others where we know the mail will be less important.

just a few thoughts, there is tons more I could say here but I'm sure most
people could care less what I think. hope that helps with your research

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fjabre
I agree. Our aim is not to create just another mail client with extra features
but to innovate the way people interface email entirely.

The type of innovation I'm talking about is analogous to what Facebook has
done with messages. We're not taking this exact approach _but_ we are looking
at doing similar types of simplifications.

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pkamb
I'd love to see "non-email" things living in the inbox.

I'd receive or could create a new Google doc, a wiki, a blank 'pastebin' type
document, a Google Wave type thing, etc. It would sit in my inbox, exactly
like an email. But clicking the subject would load the new type of file right
there rather than take me to an email.

I don't want links/notifications of the new service, I want to click on an
'email' in my inbox and have it instead load the other service, right there.
Does that make sense?

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fjabre
Interesting idea. So the rows in your inbox would also function as links to
other kind of objects instead of just using them to open an email.

It would certainly make getting at the content inside an email faster. This
would mean you'd have to put enough smarts in the email parser to determine
what kind of content is inside the email and then take the appropriate action.

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pkamb
Yeah, exactly what I mean. Rows in the inbox = links to a type of content.

This is in my opinion why Google Wave failed. No one wants another inbox to
check. But, instead of an email, having the option to send a "super email"
with advanced features? And right from your same email inbox? Yes please.

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imjonathanlee
I had an email idea before- don't know if this might help.

It was to create a tagging system where you would tag the emails you find
important with words of your own choosing. For example, if you get a lot of
dinner invites, and you need to find a specific one- it helps tagging that
email as Mary, Japanese festival, banana to show results that filter out those
keywords

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timmm
Blackberry's have a simple feature that shows when a text has been
opened/viewed by the recipient. Genius - I would love to see this in email.

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johnsocs
I wish I could add notes to an email and while searching my mailbox also have
the option to search my notes add to a message.

