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|Using Email to Its Full Potential |

|Understanding the Pros and Cons of XFINITY and Outlook Express |

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Introduction

This white paper compares the usability of two email programs: Comcast XFINITY and Outlook Express. Comcast XFINITY was the email system I used before college. It was free, and anyone can register at and create a personal address. Outlook Express is the system my university uses and my email was set up for me with a predetermined address. I was the evaluator of these applications. I represent a typical user, such as a college student, who seeks to perform basic tasks one would encounter while communicating online. I performed this test for an assignment in a technical writing course to explore the basics of a white paper.

Methods

I performed this test using my Macbook Pro laptop using Google Chrome for the Internet. I chose to conduct the test in my living room on Saturday afternoon. It was quiet and a natural environment for some at home emailing. I used both systems to complete 10 tasks:

1. Open a new email

2. Save a new contact

3. Find an old email

4. Add an attachment to an email

5. Send an email to multiple recipients

6. Download an attachment from an email

7. Forward an email

8. Block an email address

9. Delete an email

10. Mark an email as spam

Results

| | XFINITY | Outlook Express |

|Task | Notes | Notes |

|1.Open a new email |Moderate, global problem. After logging in to |After logging in to Outlook Express, the user |

| |XFINITY, the user is brought to an Inbox |is brought to the entire mailbox. There is a |

| |Preview. This preview is misleading because the|large button that reads “new mail” with a plus |

| |user can open all of her new mail but cannot |symbol in the upper left corner which where the|

| |compose a new email or leave the inbox. She |user’s eye is naturally drawn. |

| |needs to view the entire mailbox by clicking on| |

| |a small button that does not stand out well. | |

| |The entire mailbox has a small button that says| |

| |“New” with a symbol of a pencil to open a new | |

| |email. | |

|2. Save a new contact |After entering the entire mailbox, there is a |Moderate, local problem. After clicking on |

| |button that reads “Address Book” along the top,|“people” in the top right corner, the user is |

| |bolded toolbar. After clicking this, there is a|brought to a list of her contacts. There is no |

| |button clearly labeled on the left side that |way to add a contact here. Instead, the user |

| |says “new contact.” There is even an alert for |must click on the help button labeled by a |

| |contacts’ birthdays. |question mark. This opens a box that provides a|

| | |link for adding a new contact. This link lets |

| | |the user add the full name and email address of|

| | |the new contact. |

|3. Find an old email |In the entire mailbox, the user can sort the |Moderate, global problem. The user can sort |

| |email by date, size, subject, and sender. After|“conversations” in a number of ways: date, |

| |one click, every single email is sorted. The |from, flagged, size, subject, type, |

| |inbox spans the entire page. |attachments, and importance. It is easy to |

| | |sort, but the user can only see about six |

| | |emails at a time since they are lined up on the|

| | |left side of the page. |

|4. Add attachment |After opening a new email, there are three |After opening a new email there is a toolbar |

| |options at the top: send, discard, and insert. |with multiple buttons that lines the top. One |

| |Clicking the “insert” button gives another |of them is “attachment” and clicking this opens|

| |three options: attachment, picture, and |a window with five available slots to add |

| |signature. Clicking “attachment” opens the last|attachments. This allows the user to add |

| |application the user had opened. It also allows|multiple attachments at the same time. |

| |the user to go to other apps and attach what | |

| |she needs. | |

|5. Send to multiple recipients |After opening a new email, there is a line |After opening a new email, there is a line |

| |labeled “To.” Clicking this opens a miniature |labeled “To:” and at the end of this line is a |

| |address book to add individuals. |plus symbol. Clicking this symbol brings the |

| | |user to her address book and allows her to add |

| | |individuals or groups of people. |

|6. Download attachment |Double clicking on an email alert opens the |Double clicking on an email alert opens the |

| |email. Each attachment is listed at the top of |email in its own window. This has the |

| |the email. The user can view the attachment in |attachment displayed in a box to click on. |

| |its own window, download it, or remove it. |Clicking on the box downloads the attachment |

| | |and keeps it in a labeled box at the bottom |

| | |left corner of the internet window. The user |

| | |must then click on this box for the attachment |

| | |to open. |

|7. Forward an email |Irritant, global problem. By clicking on a |At the top of every email there are three |

| |small arrow pointing to the right, the user can|clearly labeled options that read “reply”, |

| |open the email for forwarding. The attachments |“reply all”, or “forward.” Clicking “forward” |

| |are all included and displayed in the subject |opens the email and allows the reader to begin |

| |line. |typing a new address without having to click |

| | |next to “To.” |

|8. Mark an email as spam |Moderate, local problem. After double clicking |Moderate, local problem. After opening an |

| |an email and opening it in its own window, |email, there are the three options of reply, |

| |there is a toolbar that lines the top. This |reply all, and forward across the top. Next to |

| |toolbar has about twenty icons that stand for |this is an ellipsis. This ellipsis has a number|

| |different options that the user can use for the|of further options that are not used as often. |

| |email. There is a small letter with a red do |“Mark as junk” is the button that puts the |

| |not enter sign on it. Clicking this marks the |email in the “junk mail,” or spam. |

| |email as spam. | |

|9. Delete an email |Irritant, global problem. Each email has check |Irritant, global problem. After finding the |

| |box beside it so the user can check which boxes|ellipsis at the top right corner of an email, |

| |she wants to eliminate. After this is done, the|the user can select “delete” to delete that |

| |user must sort through the cluttered toolbar |email. The user can only delete one email at a |

| |once again to find a trashcan icon. |time. |

|10. Mark email as unread |Each email has a small circle next to it that |After opening an email, the three options are |

| |is either blue or blank. After opening an |displayed at the top with the ellipsis |

| |email, the font of the email alert switches |following. A link labeled “mark as unread” is |

| |from bold to unbold and the circle switches |right underneath. Clicking this turns the link |

| |from blue blank. The user can click on the |into “mark as read.” |

| |circle to mark the email as read or unread. | |

Recommendations

XFINITY is a detailed email program that requires a lot of effort to learn how to utilize it effectively. It is a strong system because it allows the user to explore a variety of options and apply these options to multiple emails simultaneously. Once the user opens the entire mailbox and not just the inbox preview, every email is listed in a way that takes up the entire screen. The user can see about fifteen email alerts at the same time. These alerts include the subject, folder, size, date, sender, unread/read, and check box. Since the alerts take up so much space, the user can read the entire subject line without having to open each individual email. Above the alerts is a toolbar with about twenty icons. While it is nice to have everything in plain sight, the toolbar is too crowded and very few icons have complementary labels. Outlook Express is more user-friendly because of its layout. After logging on, the user is brought directly to the entire mailbox. The most recent emails are on the center left side of the page, and the email selected is displayed on the right. This is useful when the Internet window is fully open and takes up the entire computer screen. When the user has multiple windows open it is difficult to read an email because they get too compressed. The common options for an email are displayed clearly above it in the right hand corner, with an ellipsis holding the link to other less used options. Anything that can be done to the email is clearly labeled with words instead of symbols, which is much more visually pleasing. I would recommend Outlook Express because it is easy to read and utilize effectively.

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