10 Everything through Email

Email is one of the most successful and frequently used computer applications. According to marketing surveys, over 4 billion corporate email messages were exchanged per day in 2001, increasing to a projected 35 billion in 2005. Moreover, 97 percent of workers report using email multiple times per week for a daily average of 49 minutes (Gartner 2001; Levitt 2000; Pitney Bowes 2000). For many people, work is interpersonal rather than solitary, and email is the main conduit through which their work and information are distributed. They tend to “live” in email, as evidenced by the sheer amount of time they spend using it (Bellotti, Ducheneaut, Howard, et al. 2005), and by their evaluation of its importance, with 71 percent of people stating that it is “essential” for their everyday work (Pitney Bowes 2000). Email serves as an information conduit—acting as a delivery channel for different types of information, including documents, slides, contact information, and schedules. Its use as conduit naturally leads to its being used for key PIM functions. People use their inboxes as to-do lists to manage current tasks, their email folders as a repository for archival information, and their email address books to find contacts. They even use email to find and schedule calendar appointments. Despite its success, there are significant problems with email. Users complain about feeling overwhelmed by the volume of messages they receive, and are concerned about processing incoming messages effectively (Bälter & Sidner 2002; Bellotti et al. 2005; Venolia, Gupta, Cadiz & Dabbish 2001; Whittaker & Sidner 1996). They have difficulties, too, in organizing and managing archives (Bälter & Sidner 2002; Boardman & Sasse 2004; Whittaker & Sidner 1996). They experience severe problems using email to manage tasks, leading them to forget tasks and obligations (Bellotti, Ducheneaut, Howard & Smith 2003, Bellotti et al. 2005; Whittaker 2005; Whittaker, Jones & Terveen 2002). Email’s failure to address these PIM problems threatens to seriously reduce individual and corporate productivity.