To balance out the realm of colors, today we have a beautiful green apple board - also made by Ashley. I love the freshness of the kelly green and all the adorable ways to incorporate apples into your wedding! Such a fresh, Spring-like theme, isn't it?
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
The evolution of Gmail labels
I love labels in Gmail. Most email programs use folders, which only let me put mail in one place at a time. With labels, I can organize mail in multiple ways. Combined with filters to automatically label incoming messages, Gmail offers powerful ways to organize email.
When I joined the Gmail team, I was surprised to learn that only 29% of Gmail users had created any labels. At first, I thought perhaps conversation threading and search made the need to organize our mail less important. But when we talked to people who use Gmail, we got a different story. People often asked us to add folders to Gmail, assuming no system of organization existed. As one person said in a usability study, "What are labels... and where are my folders?"
We realized that if you didn't know about labels, it would be easy to assume Gmail had no way to organize your mail. Not only were "labels" unfamiliar, they were kind of hidden. So, we set out to make labels more accessible, as well as more powerful. Most of the changes have been in Gmail for a while, but we're adding some new features today. We thought you'd enjoy a peek at the method to our madness.
The first thing we did was make labels look more like the sticky notes you use in real life. Making the interface mimic things you interact with outside the computer can sometimes improve ease of use.
We also made it easier to remove a label from an open conversation:
Then we worked on the actions you take to apply and remove labels. Before, to put a label on a message, you had to look under "More actions> Apply label." Not only was this option hidden in a generic menu, but the language wasn't what people are familiar with when it comes to organizing mail. We explored several alternatives:
We also learned that if we made labels sound too much like folders, people got confused. For instance, while "Copy to" and "Add to" were easy to use, these terms made people think they were creating multiple copies of a message. "Move to" was familiar but didn't lead people to think they were creating copies. And people seem to have picked it up fast! Since the launch of the new menu buttons in March, we're seeing a 50% increase in new Gmail users trying labels in their first 2 weeks. And overall usage of the "Move to" menu surpassed that of the "Labels" menu within 7 weeks of launching:
For our latest set of changes, we looked at how you access labels on the left side. In other email applications, folders get the royal treatment and are given a seat at the top near your inbox. But in Gmail, labels were stuck in a box below Chat — almost like we were telling people, "you don't want to use these." In testing, we discovered that it worked best to remove the terminology altogether and just place custom labels right under the system labels (e.g. "Inbox"):
The last step was to add drag-and-drop. Now, you can drag mail into a label, or even drag a label directly onto a message:
Making it easier to process and organize your mail requires more than just labels, but we hope these changes start to improve the process. We have much more in store, so stay tuned and keep the feedback coming.
When I joined the Gmail team, I was surprised to learn that only 29% of Gmail users had created any labels. At first, I thought perhaps conversation threading and search made the need to organize our mail less important. But when we talked to people who use Gmail, we got a different story. People often asked us to add folders to Gmail, assuming no system of organization existed. As one person said in a usability study, "What are labels... and where are my folders?"
We realized that if you didn't know about labels, it would be easy to assume Gmail had no way to organize your mail. Not only were "labels" unfamiliar, they were kind of hidden. So, we set out to make labels more accessible, as well as more powerful. Most of the changes have been in Gmail for a while, but we're adding some new features today. We thought you'd enjoy a peek at the method to our madness.
The first thing we did was make labels look more like the sticky notes you use in real life. Making the interface mimic things you interact with outside the computer can sometimes improve ease of use.
We also made it easier to remove a label from an open conversation:
Then we worked on the actions you take to apply and remove labels. Before, to put a label on a message, you had to look under "More actions> Apply label." Not only was this option hidden in a generic menu, but the language wasn't what people are familiar with when it comes to organizing mail. We explored several alternatives:
We also learned that if we made labels sound too much like folders, people got confused. For instance, while "Copy to" and "Add to" were easy to use, these terms made people think they were creating multiple copies of a message. "Move to" was familiar but didn't lead people to think they were creating copies. And people seem to have picked it up fast! Since the launch of the new menu buttons in March, we're seeing a 50% increase in new Gmail users trying labels in their first 2 weeks. And overall usage of the "Move to" menu surpassed that of the "Labels" menu within 7 weeks of launching:
For our latest set of changes, we looked at how you access labels on the left side. In other email applications, folders get the royal treatment and are given a seat at the top near your inbox. But in Gmail, labels were stuck in a box below Chat — almost like we were telling people, "you don't want to use these." In testing, we discovered that it worked best to remove the terminology altogether and just place custom labels right under the system labels (e.g. "Inbox"):
The last step was to add drag-and-drop. Now, you can drag mail into a label, or even drag a label directly onto a message:
Making it easier to process and organize your mail requires more than just labels, but we hope these changes start to improve the process. We have much more in store, so stay tuned and keep the feedback coming.
What we've learned about spam
Blended threats. Payload viruses. Spam. If you're one of the more than 15 million people whose work email is protected by Postini's email security products, we hope you don't spend a lot of time thinking about these things. And if we're doing our job right, they certainly shouldn't be showing up in your inboxes. But we process more than 3 billion business emails per day for our customers, culling the spam, viruses, and other threats out, so we do think about this stuff. A lot.
On occasion, we like to share some of what we've learned, so that those of you who are interested can see what spammers are up to. If you're one of those people, head over to our Enterprise Blog for an update on spam trends over the past few months.
On occasion, we like to share some of what we've learned, so that those of you who are interested can see what spammers are up to. If you're one of those people, head over to our Enterprise Blog for an update on spam trends over the past few months.
Elvis and the Saint
I met Kristin and Jason at the 7th Avenue Street Fair in Park Slope on Father's Day.
Street fairs in New York City generally occur in the summer months and, to an inkspotter like me, they are heaven on earth.
Well, perhaps I exaggerate. They are also hot, crowded, and dangerous. I have seen many a fair-goer clipped by a slowly-moving baby stroller. But I digress.
There were tattoos aplenty at the street fair, and one is so overwhelmed by the sheer volume of great ink, it is often paralyzing to pick just one. Compare it to letting a child lose in a candy store, and tell them they can have all the candy they want, as long as they spend just a dollar.
So when I saw a few people walking along that were festooned with tattoos, I stopped them as soon as I could wend my way through the crowd and get their attention.
When someone has "lost count" of how many tattoos they have, it is safe to say that they have a lot.
Kristin offered up her inner right forearm:
She loves Elvis Presley and this portrait, based on a shot of him from the film Girls! Girls! Girls!, is wonderfully done.
She noted that this was an older Elvis, but definitely pre-Vegas.
Jason, who was walking with Kristin, and also incredibly inked, offered up his right forearm as well:
Upon returning from a trip to India several years ago, Jason brought home a poster of a Hindu saint. He loved the poster so much, he decided to have it tattooed.
I'll be honest here. I was initially disappointed that these were the tattoos that Jason and Kristin offered. Not that they're bad tattoos. Far from it. But, they had other work I admired more.
However, I do ask people which tattoos they'd like to share, so I certainly have no right to complain.
But, in the week or so since I shot these photos, I've come to appreciate the level of skill and artistry with which these pieces were created.
Both were inked by Josh Carlton at the Great American Tattoo Company in Indianapolis.
If you look closely, he has infused each tattoo with colorful highlights that really accentuate the tattoos with an extra element of artistry.
It's a brilliant effect.
Thanks to both Kristin and Jason for sharing these two amazing tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!
Inspiration Board: Strawberry Dream
This is one of my favorite inspiration boards ... ever. This statement means a lot for one of two reasons: (1) I am not even that big of a fan of the color red and (2) it was another beauty made my Ashley, who has only ever made a handful of boards. It's perfect, in my opinion. What do you think?
{dresses via Style Me Pretty, drink, strawberry slices, ring shot, shoes, car via Divine Occasions, bride, flowers}
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