Prototype P0 Overview
Our first prototype (P0) tested the ability to send not only regular emails but emails marked as tasks. When composing an email a user could identify an email as a "task," and specify both a due date and project. The recipient sees the task in their email inbox, keeping outstanding tasks visible. Sorting capabilities made it easy to view all outstanding tasks.
In addition to marking a message as a task, the user could optionally select a due date. In turn, the due date was used to display graphically the amount of time left until the task was considered overdue. Sorting on the time left was also possible, allowing for the user to see what tasks are most pressing.
The concept of a project space was also introduced in this version. The project space can be thought of as a shared inbox for groups that may be working on a project together similar to that of newsgroups. When a task is created, if the user specifies a project that it relates to, the task would show up both in the user’s inbox and in the project space.
Each task also included a “Scratch Area.” When the task was associated with a project and therefore appeared in the project space the scratch area could be edited and seen by everyone who had access the that particular project. If it was a task that was not shared the area worked as a notes area where the user could add additional information relevant to the task. This scratch area went by several names including “The Pouch”, “Notes” and “Marsupial Mail”.
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| Inbox | Project Space | Compose Message |
Technology
This prototype was a functioning web-based system built with PHP and MySQL. An email application was developed where users could send emails and tasks to anyone within the system. We selected this technology because it is fast any easy to develop with and the majority of the code could be leveraged from a similar application one team member had already developed.
