AOL Mail Concept

Evolving consumer email by integrating other forms of social engagement.

Duration
3 months - May 2008

Individual Contribution
Analysis of Social Media Tools, Design Critiques, Concept Generation, Information Models

Overview
The goal of this project was for the AOL Mail product team to look at ways to evolve email by looking at how AOL customers are engaging online, the communication technologies used to maintain their relationships, and problems that inhibits their communication flows. I was part of a small product team to examine how communication tools (other than email) are shifting the way we communicate and our current social behaviors. From the insights gathered, we collaborated on a design to improve the experience of email by providing other means of engagement with your social network and enabling it into the AOL Mail infrastructure.

Process
Analysis of Social Media Tools
After we discovered how AOL users engage online, we did an analysis of those social media tools focusing on the ones that have a high adoption rate. We set up several group sessions and critiqued what we liked about the system/features, the problems it solves, the business value, and how it may disrupt the way consumers think about email.

Design Principles
By envisioning email as a central place for social activity and collaboration, our team came up with several design principles. The design principles guided our concepts and iterative designs to drive new business opportunities and user goals.

Proposed System
Our design provides a different way to experience your email. Emails in addition to posts are aggregated in an activity stream. The user interface highlights information such as emails, media content, and news about the person you are reading. You can also "people watch" by viewing your address book activity and your connections public profiles.

For additional information on this project, feel free to contact me.