Gmail Priority Inbox

Hot on the heels of Microsoft’s re-boot of its Hotmail service, Google has tweaked and added features to its Gmail service and its widely familiar UI design. One of the features that I really liked was the ’sweep’ inbox management system which, considering that 90% of all webmail traffic is spam is a welcome addition. And it’s not just spam but all the social networks’ notifications, newsletters etc. and other websites that we sign up to sending us all manners of notifications that we may not want to unsubscribe from but are not that important. These last type of mails are known as “bologna” or “bacn”. Somewhere in all this are actual important emails from friends, family and work that are actually what e-mail was precisely designed for. Gmail now has a new feature entitled Priority Inbox to combat this type of email overload.

I found the Priority Inbox to score high in usability as it was very simple and straightforward to set up and use. Nestled at the top right of the interface design right next to the settings it is easy to find and always at the tip of your finger when you need it. Activating it offers users the chance to watch a short video describing the new service, should they wish to see it. An overlay appears that already sees Gmail suggest what are important and not important mails. Users can confirm this or change the suggestions. Important emails are unmistakable due to having a yellow mark along with the subject of the email. Priority emails naturally appear above the general inbox and have a corresponding folder. This feature is sure to make an already popular online software application much more manageable