Musings on the Brutality of Email

Email is a horrible thing. The following goofy but thoughtful rant describes the four Axioms of Email, analyzes our inbox using Yoblanski's Laws of UX, and describes exactly how and why email is so brutal. In particular, this work: identifies email as an unending background hum in the soundtrack of our lives; reveals how our inbox constantly lies to us; and explores how our brains are both awesome and terrible. Potential design solutions are suggested, and three new Laws of UX are proposed: Schrodinger's Email; the Sisyphus Effect; and Caro's Law. Readers who hate email will benefit from a better understanding of why it sucks so much; and readers who find email simple and straightforward will learn why they should stop judging the rest of us. Feel free to give a copy of this anonymously to your boss, so they're less rude next time you miss an important email (that could have just been a meeting!).