Blog #9

When I hear the words uniformity, consistency, and meaning I begin to think of understandability. In any light understanding an idea or concept is "providing ease of use". If you understand it, you can better operate and navigate the idea or concept. When searching for the best representation of "providing ease of use" and ideas associated with Chapter 7 I decided on the website Umail or more specifically Google's Gmail. I didn't choose this because I visit it several times a day, because I do, but I chose this site because I remember when I had to make the "switch" from Webmail to Umail or Imail and after having bad encounters with Microsoft powered mail in the past I decided it best to choose Gmail. I knew nothing about Gmail or even Google for that matter, just that it was a search engine that I sometimes visited.

As a beginning user it was nice to see that the login screen for Umail was simple, not cluttered, but to the point with only one button to choose from that said "login". It also contained very helpful, easy to navigate, links underneath this button that allowed for additional help if needed. Once you login to the website front and center lies your Inbox where all of your new messages, current messages, and "starred" or saved messages are kept. Up above the Inbox are several tabs that are very easy to understand with no large words or strange terms: "Archive, Report Spam, Delete, Move to, Labels, and More action." These were aligned along the top of the Inbox screen making the consistency even better. On the right hand side of the Inbox is another navigation directory that enables you to switch your main view from your Inbox to your "Starred, Sent Mail, Drafts, or Trash". All links perfectly left-aligned to continue keeping consistency and uniformity. Below this you can create other folders to contain messages to better organize and keep important information close by. I have since done this so I can further organize my Inbox.

Google really provided "ease of use" by creating an email system that was easy to use. There are always going to be additional "features" that you can change like color, style, or content, but they're also not necessary to successfully function your Inbox. I have decided to stray from the extras and complete what is only necessary. I've found Umail has provided "ease of use", uniformity, consistency, and meaning.