Email: channeling emotional response to sensory engagement

1. POINT OF VIEW:
Users that feel that email is too emotionally
inexpressive and repetitive need a sense-
engaging moment to release emotion between
tasks as a mental reward, a confirmation of task
completion, and a break from monotony.
By: Cecilia, Gary & Huisi

2. User has a list of emails
to get through
A!er user finishes an email,
presses a ‘trash’ button
Email instantly disappears,
STRESS! only to reveal the next one
No emotional STRESS!
catharsis or No mental
release; user break between
is unsatisfied emails
STRESS!
No sense of
progress or that
a task has been
completed

3. INSPIRATIONS:
Clear Fruit Ninja
-Todo list app -Game focusing on one primary
motion – slicing
-No buttons – just gestures to
control adding & deleting items -Engages all of the senses to
-Uses sound to break monotony provide a very satisfying, addicting
and associate task completion user experience
with reward

4. TRENDS & INSIGHTS:
Combining visual, aural, and tactile stimuli is a
great way to engage the user and elicit emotion –
we can see this trend in many mobile games, but
apps like Clear extend this to productivity.
Successful productivity apps are moving more
toward a model of simplicity and elegance – “it
just works”

5. OPPORTUNITIES:
Reinventing mental model of email from
repetitive task list to a moment where users can
reflect and have an emotional outlet for their
various conversations
Combine the sensory engagement used in games
(such as Fruit Ninja) with a productivity app
(email), to produce a richer and more exciting
experience