Mobile Inbox Love from Google

Inbox from Google, you had me at “Sweep.”  Seriously, this is the biggest thing in email since the attachment.  And it’s been a long time coming.  

Taronga Zoo, SYD

Recently my wife and I flew SFO>SYD to extend summer on some of Australia’s incredible beaches and my invitation to try out Google Inbox arrived just in time.  

First I noticed the slick and super helpful flight confirmations, with key details parsed for quick reference on mobile devices - even including an image for my arrival city, Sydney.   It’s like the Gmail team crafted a personal response to my September Blog, yeah right, whatevs.  

Mostly, I read email on my iPhone 6, so let’s keep the conversation there, but this should apply to Inbox on android devices and desktop apps as well.

THE GOOD.

Sweep.

I’ve been a happy Gmail user since inception, 2004-ish, but lately the clutter has gotten out of hand - for real!  I was losing the fight against over communication; but now I just sweep it all away.  It’s serene, I’ll explain.  

The Google Now “brain” powering Inbox automagically finds low priority emails; which I review and quickly jettison away.  Why does this solution work?  it’s much easier to scan a presorted group of emails than hunt and peck through a mixed list of spam, important, and low priority emails.  I mean, I’d like to think I’ll get to these; but in the meantime, just want them out of the way.  Want to live on the edge?  hit the sweep button without reviewing the emails; it’s a total rush!  

Snooze.   

Two thirds of my email is forgettable cruft that can be swept away.  This leaves important emails which demand immediate attention and others which can be dealt with later.  For the latter, Google Inbox offers a big snooze bar - a means to postpone review to a future time... and place.  So let’s say you’re planning to stop at the grocery store on your way home from the office and wifie emails you a few things to pick up - snooze to “Whole Foods” - when you arrive the email will pop to the top, got it.

Bundle.  

Tags and Folders were great for filing away emails, but if you have anything close to my 68 Gmail labels, what was once helpful is now an OCD relapse waiting to happen.  Bundling takes similar logic behind Sweep and uses it to group emails, with pre-existing ones displayed for Travel, Finance, Purchases, and Low Priority and others bundles for Social, Promos, Updates and Forums available to be turned on from Settings (gear icon).   

Similar emails are grouped and can be reviewed in kind.

Parsed Emails With Rich Media

Google Inbox earns style points with the treatment of flight, hotel, calendar invite confirmation emails, which are all parsed and presented so important details stand out - an enabling crutch for those of us whom skim most emails (don’t judge).

When traveling, I rely on my mobile phone for all travel confirmations and on my recent trip to Sydney easily found these emails and could access most important details from the Inbox, list view.  Furthermore, videos and pics are displayed using a clean ribbon which can be flicked left and right to see more.        

THE OPPORTUNITY FOR IMPROVEMENT.

While Google Inbox is an awesome start to rethinking email; there’s opportunity to build on this while addressing a few important misses; all of which I’m sure the team is grooming in their backlog.

Add Delete To Messages

What is the Gmail team’s deal with the Delete button?!  seriously,  it’s slightly awkward how obsessed they are about it.  It’s like their personal crusade to save all of the unwanted email in the world.  I’m not going to get into specifics, but sometimes you just need to delete an email - use your imagination.  The “delete” trash can icon is present, but buried, and so should be added to the top - next to the “close” X and away from the priority icons on the right. 

Add Confirmations To Google Calendar

While the calendar invites look great there’s an opportunity to take this further.  If dates can be parsed from confirmations like Opentable reservations and flights they can be used to create Google Calendar events.  For example my Sydney trip flight confirmations from United Airlines should have created Google Calendar events.  A great opportunity for appless functionality, quietly working in the background without me getting in the way.  

Other Nits and Gnats

Can’t Edit Replies/Forwards: In the mobile version, the original email content of Replies/Forwards can’t be edited.  This functionality does exist in the desktop browser version; not exactly mobile first.   

Message Time: It’s helpful to see the message time, before opening the email.  Email delivery time is missing from the inbox list view, this should be added with thin, light grey font to the top right-hand side of the email message in list view - if you ask me.  

OVERALL

For years the zero inbox policy was my unicorn with wings.  I’m proud to say that after just a few weeks, I’ve attained that which had escaped me for years; and my Inbox count is currently a goose egg.  

The Gmail and Google Now teams have done good work.  Is it ready for primetime?  Yes.  Is there room for improvement?  Always.

Google Inbox has set the new standard for all email applications.  Aside from a few minor nits, the first version of Google Inbox is both ambitious and impressive.  If you haven’t yet requested an invite, I suggest you do so.  If you must, keep Gmail, Apple Mail, Microsoft Outlook (I hope not) going while you get acquainted with Google Inbox, but if like me you’ll soon forget them as you cruise through your email and wonder what to do with all of your newfound free time.  

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Update                                    8DEC 2014

My Christmas wish came early.   A week after starting this blog entry and a day after posting it I received a notice in Google Calendar that reservations for flights, restaurants, and other standard email confirmations will automatically be added to my calendar.  

Ask and you will receive.   Gmail confirmation emails now automatically display in Google Calendar.  

While Google Inbox and Gmail are separate, this is officially a Gmail announcement.  However, this is a backend upgrade so it benefits both services.  

Wish granted.  

How can UBER be More Uber?

Uber’s ridesharing app is awesome, ingenious, and disrupting the $10 billion taxi industry; but if some issues are not soon addressed, Uber could soon be stuck in the slow lane.

Some Remote Location in New Mexico

Let’s pump the brakes; full disclosure, I’ve been a happy Uber customer for years and am psyched to see them (Lyft and others) expanding to new cities every month.   Once I got past the initial awkwardness of getting into a stranger’s car - ignoring years of maternal warning - it’s been great!  

Last week was my annual trip with my father and his hiking crew; and if not for my nimble Uber driver I would have missed the 7am flight from SFO>ELP (El Paso, TX) .

The star rating system for both driver and passenger keeps everyone on their best behavior; pre-ride sneak peek of driver’s photo, name, and car;  predictability of arrival and real time map tracking of progress; and my personal favorite: no cash or card needed for the transaction - all good.   

THE GOOD.

I’ve been pleased with the pace with which Uber (and Lyft my other personal favorite) continue adding features:

• carpooling;
• saved destinations;
• in-app updates replacing texts;
• pay with points;
• ride splitting;
• multiple credit cards (for both business and joy rides).   

So what’s the problem? As with most, high-flying, disruptive technologies there’s been backlash and some hyperactive critics.

OPPORTUNITY FOR IMPROVEMENT.

The most frequent complaint I’ve heard in and around SF is Uber drivers don’t always know the best route.  Actually let’s focus on helping the directionally challenged Uber drivers and get to the other issues in subsequent blogs; but I also want to hear from you in the comments, what’s your gripe with Uber?

Drivers not knowing their way:

I’m sure I’m not the first to have jumped into an Uber and the driver asks me for directions - what the?  And I’m usually going from Pacific Heights to the Financial District - not exactly the Northwest Passage.  Let’s focus on how to ensure your Uber driver never says those five words: “how do I get there?” which is just awkward.  

How can Uber train thousands of drivers without having to staff up a testing organization?  They're a self proclaimed technology company, afterall, so it makes sense to fix this with tech.  Cabbies take tests to receive their licenses; Uber should do the same, but have fun with it and create a simple check-in game for their drivers.  

Back in 2009, way before we all suffered from check-in fatigue, a friend and I developed a check-in game app for exploring cities, a bit like The Amazing Race but played by using check-ins to verify presence, needed to complete each stage through a city map.  This is essentially what I’m suggesting for Uber: Automated driver testing with a check-in game to simulate pick-up and drop-off of passengers.  Once the driver achieves enough points, they’re ready for real passengers, and hopefully never having to say those five awkward words.    

The Driver Test App:

Cabbies take tests to receive their licenses; Uber should do the same, but have fun with it and create a simple check-in game for their drivers.

Better Driver Maps:

Improving driver street knowledge is not enough; there’s also an opportunity for tighter integration with top tier map apps - a.k.a - Google Maps and Waze, both offered by Google.  In a perfect world, the driver won’t actually need to use their navigation acumen, the app should always find the best route based on time, traffic, road closures, etc.   Come on Uber, you're a Google Ventures company, after all.  Word on the street is the Uber Driver map navigation uses Apple Maps, really?  Didn't Apple CEO Tim Cook already recommend using Google Maps? If this rumor is true, it explains some of the reason for the less than oriented Uber drivers.

Rumors and map tech aside, the usability flow could be improved. There's no reason why the entire interaction should have any conversation about directions or routes, just the destination.  In fact, it makes sense for this to be a design goal for Uber.  

This is not rocket surgery, and the use case flow should reflect this simplicity:

1. Passenger requests ride, specifies destination in Uber Passenger App
2. Driver accepts ride
3. Driver picks up the Passenger
4. Uber Driver App launches the Driver’s Map, displaying route and directions
5. Driver selects the route and goes

If the destination isn’t known when the passenger is in the car, the Driver Uber App should ping the Passenger Uber App to ask the passenger for it.  I enjoy chatting with Uber drivers, but there’s no reason to discuss something as boring as how to arrive at the destination - yawn.   

THE FUTURE

The in app navigation is a great start, but tighter map integration is low hanging fruit, an easy win.  Also, when I’m starting from “Home” don’t offer “Home” as my destination!  For the extreme off chance I want to take an Uber joy ride around the block, I’m fine with entering in my address.  In the future this interaction between Passenger App and Driver App could include additional features like offering routes for the passenger to select on a map.

As for the Driver Test App, Uber should run with this idea and add cool gamification to create competition amongst their drivers and continue with ongoing game tests and automated route checking with feedback and/or rewards to sharpen their drivers’ skills and create learning opportunities for them.  

Eventually, Uber may consider this a feature like the car type (UberX, BLACK CAR, TAXI) and offer passengers the options to pay more for a “master driver” that, let’s say, I may use when I have a flight to catch and need the fastest way to SFO.  I mean, I appreciate a 5-star rated driver due to their friendly disposition, but when my flight is wheels up in 55 minutes, the “master driver” would be golden.  

THE BOTTOM LINE.

Uber is at tipping point - ha! that phrase is so overdone, but they are at a point where they must improve their core competencies to form deeper relationships with customers and stay ahead of the cabbies.   One core fundamental they can’t overlook is the street knowledge of their drivers and delivering us to our destinations in the fastest way possible.  If they crush these, the only cab we’ll order will arrive in a glass.     

Gmail Mobile App For Flights

My wife and I recently flew, SFO>PDX, to explore Portland and the Willamette Wine Region.  The area has some of my personal favorites from the Pacific Northwest:  

Willamette Pinots, Stumptown Coffee, Voodoo Donuts, artisanal farm fresh cuisine, cool bars, food trucks, and absolutely exquisite hipster handle bar mustaches.

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How do you voodoo?

The trip was awesome, except for my experience using the Gmail mobile app for flight confirmations and check-ins; which is not artisanal, hipster, or bespoke and it’s not even ironic in a retro way, it’s just awkward.  

Listen, a while ago I made the switch to the Gmail app and haven’t looked back, I prefer it to iOS native email on my iPhone – I’m already a fan.  It’s great but in a world where extraordinary is the new normal, I want more!

THE GOOD.

Flight Confirmations/Boarding Passes, DESKTOP

The design is clean, bold, and free of non-essentials.

The parsed flight confirmations are great! for my laptop, but not compelling enough for me to keep my laptop at the ready while dashing through the airport, in fact for most trips I carry just my iPhone (iPad maybe).

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Gmail for Desktop Does Flights Right

THE OPPORTUNITY FOR IMPROVEMENT.

Flight Confirmations/Boarding Passes, MOBILE 

The tight integration of Gmail, desktop needs to be on mobile phones and tablets.   In the “Improved” design below, I stay within the basic design motif of Gmail for desktop, but bring the benefits of a clean, well-parsed flight confirmation to mobile.  (BTW, the “check-in” button would not be displayed prior to the 24hr check-in time frame – make sense?)  

Which is more clear?

Overall, what do you think?  let me know in the comments.

THE FUTURE.

Soon we’ll simply check-in from the mobile inbox -OR-
better yet from an alert to the mobile screen where we’ll select a “Check-In” button -OR-
even better yet the phone will just tell us when the flight check-in is ready and await a simple reply back “Check me in!” and the boarding pass will be saved to all of my devices.

Okay, rant over, let’s start with an inbox check-in, which would be wonderful.  The special flight confirmation email would simply present the “Add to Calendar” button – select it and done – flight added to my calendar.  And in the case of flight check-in, the special email would present the “Check-In” button in the email inbox list view and then simply ask where I’d like to store my electronic boarding pass: Apple Passbook, Google Drive, Evernote, etc.  something like this

The future is 1-touch, flight check-in from the Inbox.

THE BOTTOM LINE.

Gmail flight confirmations and check-ins are awesome! but this is a perfect opportunity for a “mobile first” moment.  Especially when for most, at least the return flight is a mobile only experience (while traveling and away from our desktop browsers.)  Gmail for mobile is so close and should already be delivering this to us now.