Molto (part 2)- rethinking email, translating a tablet experience into a smartphone one [Perion, 2013]
Background
In 2013, we started designing this unique email experience for smartphones after launching Molto for tablets (Molto - redesigning email, part 1).
As we can see from the chart above, mobile phones’ primary usage was SMS 🤭, and email was used much more than social networks 🤪.
Although the iPhone was launched on Jun. 2007 and the first Android on Oct. 2008, smartphones past the 50% mobile phones market share only during the second half of 2012. Regarding users, it means that it reached the late-majority ones. These users are the common-users that are joining the trend after the early-adopters. These types of users are Molto’s target market.
The chart below shows that smartphones are real mobile devices used outside the home and on the go. On the other hand, tables, the device that Molto was designed for, held a different behavior. They were mostly used at home rather than on the go. This understanding was with us in transforming Molto’s user experience from tablets to smartphones.
Design goals
We realized we would face multiple challenges transforming the experience from tablets to smartphones. The primary ones were:
1. Molto’s unique layout - We acknowledged that the columns’ arrangement could not work on smartphones
2. Smartphone behavior - On the go and single-hand usage
Research
We started looking at relevant experiences on smartphones. The popular Email apps were not the direct reference for us, as we already knew from our tablet research.
The application we looked for are applications that present items sorted in chronological order and containing a Title (email subject), body text (email message), and images.
Facebook was an excellent reference for us, mainly because they used cards like Molto did.
Google+ was another relevant reference in dealing with chronological order and similar content.
Design
Once we realized we could use the same card pattern we used for tablets also in smartphones, it was clear that the only layout that could work was a vertical list. This layout is familiar and suitable for single-hand usage.
Sense Of Scope
Once we decided to use cards, we understood we had an issue with the number of emails that could be viewed on the screen. Users could usually view only three emails, while on iOS mail and Gmail, they could view between six to seven emails. The difference in the number of viewed emails presents a usability issue.
Sense of scope - the ability to quickly view a set of items the user needs to handle. In the case of email, it’s the unread ones.
Contextual design: It’s not only a different device, it’s a whole different usage
We learned from our research that smartphones are real mobile devices, and people use them on-the-go as opposed to tablets, which are not really mobile and are used mainly at home.
Smartphone experience needs to enable a single-hand operation and performing shot processes. These two objectives led to the design of two features.
Quick Actions
Enables users to take direct action from the mail list without opening the mail.
Quick Reply
Enable users to respond directly from the view screen without going to the write screen. This behavior was based on the understanding that an on-the-go response would be short. But, of course, users can always go to the write screen for a more extended response. Although this behavior is unfamiliar to email apps, it is used in all messaging apps; therefore, it’s familiar. This feature presents the innovative quality of The Cross-Pollinator that draws associations and connections between seemingly unrelated ideas or concepts to break new ground.
All-stars
All-stars are another feature that came to life from adjustments to context, the smartphone. In smartphones, direct communication starts by “tapping” the contact we wish to communicate with. While in email, its starts from “compose” or a previous email.
In addition, from analyzing numerous mailboxes, we found out that there is a limited number of contacts that we communicate with on a high/mid frequency.
These two insights formulated the idea of All-stars - a direct starting point to the user’s All-stars contacts, similar to messaging apps.
An All-star was “chosen” based on the communication history with this contact.
The end
Molto received excellent reviews and was downloaded by 700K people.
“This is an innovative email app that blends messaging, email and photo-sharing in a neat interface, whether used on your Android smartphone or tablet.” (The Guardian, Feb. 2014)
But eventually, on January 2015 Molto app was closed 😭.
In my opinion, there is one significant reason why Molto didn’t last.
Social networks and messaging apps became the primary means of personal communication. Email was no longer a medium for sending messages and photos. So, the one mailbox users kept was the native one, Gmail or iOS mail.
But it sure was a fantastic ride 🤩.
