March 30, 2012
Former Google Employees Rethink E-mail with Fluent.io
Despite the enourmous changes that the internet has seen in the past ~15 years, one element has largely retained the same form: e-mail. With Wave, Google tried to rewrite the e-mail paradigm, but for various reasons, it never caught on with the masses. Could Fluent.io be what Google wave should have been?
There have been many attempts to reinvent e-mail, but today we'll be looking at Fluent, a web based e-mail client designed to work flawlessly with Gmail.
Features
Workflow Oriented Stream - Fluent's workflow is carefully designed to deliver a great, stress-free e-mail experience. They offer a stream, much like Facebook's newsfeed, that allows you to keep track of updated email streams. There's even a feature that allows you to keep track of all of your attachments so you don't have to search for them.
Multiple Account Administration - Manage multiple email accounts within Fluent so you don't have to keep logging out and into other accounts.
Enhanced Search features - Search is key for Fluent: Make it easy, make it fast, make it work. Much like what their previous employer stresses.
Stay Inspired
Fluent's blog has some really interesting commentary about web-app innovation and the future of email. Not only do they talk about e-mail services, but they also talk about their philosophy, especially as it relates to design. Topics like cross-platform functionality, work-flow design, user-experience design, and various issues in communication design are all part of the mix.
Further Reading
The folks at Fast Company's design blog did an excellent write-up about Fluent and the flaws of the exisiting email paradigm. Definitely an inspirational and insightful read.
For any questions about this article. or relating to your existing web strategy, feel free to contact us at Webconnection.
