SUMMARY
In this paper, the authors conduct a mixed-methods investigation to identify the expectations of users in terms of automated email handling as well as the information and computation required to support the same. They divided their study into 3 probes – ‘Wishful Thinking’, ‘Existing Automation Software’, and ‘Field Deployment of Simple Inbox Scripting’. The first probe was conducted in two stages. The first stage included a formative design workshop wherein the researchers enlisted 13 computer science students that were well-versed with programming to create rules. The second stage was a survey that enlisted 77 participants from a private university including 48% without technical backgrounds. The authors identified that there was a need for automated systems to have richer data models, use internal/external context, manage attention, alter the presentation of the inbox. In the second probe, the authors mined GitHub repositories to identify needs that programmers had implemented. Some of the additional needs they identified included processing, organizing, and archiving content, altering the default presentation of email clients, email analytics and productivity tools. As part of the third probe, the authors deployed their ‘YouPS’ system that enables users to process email rules in Python. For this probe, they enlisted 12 email users (all of whom could code in Python). Common themes across the rules generated include the creation of email modes, leveraging interaction history, and a non-use of existing email client features. The authors found that users did indeed desire more automation in their email management especially in terms of richer data models, internal and time-varying external context, and automated content processing.
REFLECTION
I liked the overall motivation of the study and especially resonated with the need of automated content processing as I would definitely benefit from having mail attachments downloaded and stored appropriately. The subjects that mentioned a reaction to signal if a message was viewed reminded me about Slack’s interface that allows you to ‘Add reaction’. I also believe that having a tagging feature would be good to ensure that key respondents are alerted of tasks that must be performed by them (especially in case of longer emails).
I liked the setup of Probe 3 and found that this was an interesting study. However, I wonder about the adoptability of such a system and as mentioned by the authors in the future work, I would be very interested in knowing how non-programmers would make use of these rules via the use of a drag-and-drop GUI.
The authors found that the subjects (10 out of 12) preferred to write rules in Python rather than use the mail client’s interface. This reminded me of prior discussions in class for the paper ‘Agency plus automation: Designing artificial intelligence into interactive systems’ wherein we discussed how humans prefer to be in control of the system and the level of automation that users desire (in a broader context).
QUESTIONS
- The studies conducted include participants that had an average age group that was less than 30 and most of whom were affiliated with a university. Would the needs of business professionals vary in anyway as compared to the ones identified in this study?
- Would business organizations be welcoming of a platform such as the YouPS system? Would this raise any security concerns considering that the system is able to access the data stored in the emails?
- How would to rate the design of the YouPS interface? Do you see yourself using such a system to develop rules for your email?
- Are there any needs, in addition to the ones mentioned in this paper, that you feel should be added?
- The authors state that even though 2/3 studies focused on programmers, the needs identified were similar between programmers and non-programmers. Do you agree with this justification? Was there any bias that could have crept in as part of this experimental setup?
First, I think the needs of business professionals definitely vary compared with those who were affiliated with a university. Because I think that different job types have different requirements for using emails, though I have no experience with business, I would imagine that people who were affiliate with a university would have a more slack schedule than business professionals (based on my observation of my friends, who is a businesswoman). There is also a big difference in the types of things handled. I am glad that you made this point out because I even consider that email automation settings should target different groups of people based on their work type. So what I am trying to say is, we might need a more personal customized system based on each person’s requirements. This might be the reason that majority of people preferred to write rules in Python rather than use the mail client’s interface. This may also reflect that people would like to gain more control when they are using software systems.
I agree with Nan Li, the needs of a business would definitely be very different from that of people in a university. This is especially because of their different jobs and the fact that different jobs have different workflows, processes, and ways to handle communication. I also appreciate your point about the user interface of YouPS. I think it definitely would help people more easily set rules compared to how they set them now.