Gartner's Jeffrey Mann writes today about a few new tools for Outlook from a company called Kayxo. The tools include Google desktop and calendar integration as well as database/workflow integration. All of that -- stuff we do in Notes today.
The interesting part (for my audience at least) of Mann's blog entry is this:
I am not ready to throw up my hands and declare Outlook the universal inbox to everything, just yet. I think that reducing the time spent there is generally a Good Thing. At least, I certainly want to reduce the time I spend in it. However, I certainly see the value in exposing targeted information in that context when it makes sense.I think the problem is really with the term "email clients". If you have a view of your inbox as a "catalyst for productivity", then things get interesting. I *want* all my information and productivity to come together in a unified experience -- it is how I am productive through the notion of contextual collaboration. Viewing the Notes 8 client -- with collaborative applications, Symphony editors, sidebar integration with RSS and Google gadgets, federated calendars, and all the rest -- as a universal collaboration client, not just e-mail, is the real value of having an installed client. It all works smarter, together.
What do you think? Do we spend too much time in email clients or not enough?
Link: Gartner/Jeffrey Mann: Bringing the World to Your Outlook Inbox >
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Richard Schwartz http://www.rhs.com/poweroftheschwartz | 3/9/2009 10:54:48 AM
So, Ben... Back in the days of paper trays, all the work was in that tray? All of it? I guess we never had to collaborate? The process always started with someone else, so we never had to initiate new work by opening a file drawer or a notebook to find that needs to go in someone else' tray? We never had to check on the progress of some other piece of paper in someone else's tray before we dealt with the paper at the top of our won tray? And we never had a problem with waiting for an important piece of paper that wasn't in our tray even though we knew it should be?
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Ben Rose http://www.jaffacake.net | 3/9/2009 11:44:50 AM
Richard,
You should know that I am no where NEAR old enough to really know what a paper tray is - I've just spent my whole career replacing them with Notes apps ;O)
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Sjef Bosman http://www.bosman.fr | 3/9/2009 1:26:26 PM
One more candidate for an invitation to an R8 demonstration... if he's ready to look beyond the paper tray.
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Michelle O’Rorke http://michelles-universe.blogspot.com | 3/9/2009 5:58:57 PM
I recently showed Notes 8.5 to a .Net developer (one with some Notes experience), including Activities, Quickr and a composite app. His response was that while it looked promising, he didn't think users would 'get it'. I believe the challenge is that there are two distinct groups - those who live in their inbox and those who don't. It's not a question of right or wrong, too much or not enough. It is a matter of which tools people are most familiar with. It is definitely generational, but as the managers who make decisions are frequently in the older inbox-focused crowd, most in-house systems are still rolled out that way.
I think that more tools like Notes 8.5 and the ones above will help move the two groups closer together. The problem with tools which bring everything together outside the inbox (i.e web-based portals, even ones with email portlets) is that the inbox-focused crowd resist using them, diluting their usefulness. Putting collaboration tools inside/along side the inbox provide a rich experience regardless of how you approach your computing environment (I am assuming here that you have a choice of thin client or thick to achieve this aim - the infrastructure issue is a different one).
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Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 3/9/2009 6:12:58 PM
Thanks, Michelle. It's definitely a situational/choice scenario around where people want to work. When I think about the Netbook type of user, they want a thin client/portal kind of approach. When I think about the Macbook type of user, they want a rich client type of approach, and then Notes is ideally suited. I don't think either one is the "right" answer, and am glad that we offer solutions for either/or.
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Andy Steven http://www.uptime100.com.au | 3/9/2009 10:54:08 PM
They say (Radicatti) that the average user now spends 41% of their day managing email.
Letting peoeple bring in information other than email into the inbox is very powerful..
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Jeffrey Mann http://blogs.gartner.com/jeffrey_mann | 3/10/2009 5:53:27 AM
Thanks for these thoughtful comments. I suspect we might be moving towards a red state/blue state type divide (although that might be a dated reference now) of those who want to do even more around email, and those who want to avoid it.
Email needs to be a part of any solution, but I'm not convinced that it needs to be central to any solution. There are many other UI paradigms out there that could work better for getting work done. Jamming new things into the email-style interface strikes me as dancing on the periphery with shiny bits of metal to try and distract users from what usually commands all their attention. Useful in some cases, but not really a step forward.
Traditionally, we had paper trays on our desks. All of our work lay in them waiting to be done.
The inbox is the modern form of that in-tray. All the work waiting to be done should be in there and anything outside of that space decreases efficiency and productivity.