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Mark for "Reply Later"#310

I’ve recently tried Hey mail, and one of the things I liked the most was the ability to mark an email for “Reply Later”, then there’s an option to only display those emails to be replied to.

I know that we have snooze… but that’s only a different problem, because once it comes back, the email gets mixed again with the inbox contents.

My prefered use case scenario:

  1. Read an email that needs an answer, but can’t answer right away.
  2. Mark as “Reply Later”.
  3. In the preferences, there could be an option to archive the email (or not) when marking it for “Reply Later” - this way, if the option is on, the email would disappear from the inbox when marked.
  4. Have a filter (same as for starred or unread emails) for emails marked for “Reply Later”.
  5. Focus and answer all of the emails that need so when it’s convenient.

I know it could be achieved using labels, stars… but it’s not as convenient.

4 years ago
1

I wonder if this could be accomplished by giving “snooze” an alternate appearance in the UI. I feel like both features are trying to accomplish the same thing but I agree the UI of reply later is nice as you don’t lose those returning emails in with the rest of the normal inbox.

4 years ago
1

I think they’re essentially different features:

  • Snooze: may not need a reply, may be just a newsletter that you’d like to check during the weekend, when you have time, so you’ll get it back in your Inbox when you decide.
  • Reply Later: needs reply, and you don’t want it mixed with the inbox, where many emails may not need a reply.

I believe it would be more similar to the starred feature, except:

  • Starred emails can still show in the inbox, Replay Later would only show in their own “tab”.
  • Starred emails can be used for many things: needs reply, “I like this email”, I want to have this email at hand later on… while “Reply Later” is exclusively for emails that need a reply.

The purpose? You can check your email, mark emails to “Reply Later”, so then, whenever you have the time and resources, you can start and reply one email after the other without distractions.

4 years ago
2

Appreciate you detailing the use case. I think it’s a great idea. I also tried out Hey. It’s unfortunate that the interface is horrific.

4 years ago

Hi everyone! I’d like to chime in here and say I understand the purpose but I don’t think Reply Later is the right name. I think the Inbox is a place to delegate–similar to the GTD method. There should be a “TO DO” section made as your main workspace.

So here should be the workflow…

INBOX - Immediate delegation. You can choose to Snooze, Delete, Spam, or Todo.
SNOOZE - For emails you’re not quite ready to receive.
TODO - For emails you plan to work on soon/now. This will be another section separate from the Inbox. It will be your main workspace.

This will make everything a lot more streamlined. Also, “reply later” will have an easier home than another version of “snooze”.

4 years ago
2

I guess TODO would do the trick, but it’s also a broad term, which would be the purpose of some feature more similar to starring. Reminds me of Google’s Inbox pinning.

I feel that ToDo doesn’t necessarily mean that it needs a reply: it may mean that you have to read it, or that you have to check some link out.

“Reply Later” is exclusively to reply, so you can focus on replying one email after another without distractions that may take you away from the email window (like a newsletter that you wanted to check out, for example).

@Matthew Agreed! I like some parts of the hey concept, but the interface was a bit weird to me, and it doesn’t use keyboard shortcuts extensively.

4 years ago
1

For the record, just in case, it wouldn’t bring the emails back at a given time, like Snoozing. It would just isolate them in a different section, where all of the marked emails would show up until they are replied.

Once replied, an email can be released from the “Reply Later” “tab” (I don’t know what to call it)

4 years ago

I think its also important that no matter how “reply later” is implemented that the user interface is the key thing. Just putting a group of emails in to another tab that is gone unless clicked wouldn’t be the same feature. The real benefit of reply-to on Hey is that it shows up as a stack that is ever present on the screen which helps remind you that you have some people to get back to.

4 years ago

@blendtuts, I actually think a broad term is good. What if I don’t want to reply to some emails in my todo section? What if some emails are because I had asked someone to send me a file, or to click a link where I could purchase something?

I think “reply later” is actually too specific and leaves out a lot of other things I do in an email app.

Todo might not be the right word. But the purpose is there–a place where we can “focus on our emails”. Perhaps the word FOCUS is good?

4 years ago

Well, my feature request was for emails that need to be replied to specifically. I agree that a “Todo” email list would also be helpful, but I think they’re two different things.

I get dozens of emails that require an answer a day, and sometimes, when I finally have the time to sit down and answer, it’s sometimes a bit messy to be replying emails while sorting them through the inbox, mixed with other emails that I want to keep there for other reasons. Sometimes I miss an email I wanted to reply to because it was in between other emails that needed attention in other ways or were not that urgent.

That’s why I ask specifically about a place where you know that every email in that list is for answering, so there’s no chance of missing something important.

The “Todo” tab I find useful too, but in a different way and for a broader use-case scenario :)

4 years ago

Going back to Hey’s approach, for example, there are two “stacks”, the “Reply Later” and the “Set Aside”, and I think the “Set Aside” pile of emails would be something more similar to the Todo that you propose :)

As for interface, I believe that buttons next to the recap option, that have some sort of indicator that you’ve added emails there (like the recap’s blue dot) would work :)

4 years ago
1

The Reply Later function would be a godsend

3 years ago
1

Yes please!!

3 years ago