Discussed the top Mail related problems users had during the recent "First Usage" Usability Study. A usability study was conducted a few weeks ago which looked at some of the common actions users perform when installing and first using the Netscape product. 

Top Mail Related Issues:

1. Problems launching Mail. Users don't understand the difference between ISP mail and Webmail. When asked to start up mail, almost all users launched Webmail from the Personal Bookmarks bar or the Netscape Homepage (default homepage). When asked to look for a non-webmail account, the launcher icons and Task menu --> Mail items were not immediately obvious to users.
2. Problems with mail startup.When an account is migrated and Mail is launched for the first time, the 
   Thread Pane and Message Pane area are blank. The account(s) are collapsed. I believe the default 
   account level is selected. Users clicked on the "Get Msg" button and nothing visibly changed to them 
   (because the Inbox was not selected). Users had to be told to expand the account and select the Inbox to see their mail.
3. New Account Setup. When asked to setup a new mail account, most users had trouble finding the Account Settings.
4. AB. Users go to the first AB by default. Currently this is the CAB which is sometimes confusing to users.

The first issue we will deal with is: Contents of the Mail Thread Pane/Message Thread Pane when an Account Level item is selected. 

When an account is migrated and Mail is launched for the first time, the Thread Pane and Message Pane area are blank. The account(s) are collapsed. I believe the default account level is selected. Users are confused as to why no mail is visible. Users clicked on the "Get Msg" button to access their mail. Because the account level is selected (and not an Inbox), nothing visually changes to the user in the Thread Pane (it remains blank). Users had to be told to expand the account and select the Inbox to see their mail. 

Bug 49753 - Contents of the Mail Thread Pane when an Account Level item is selected, covers this issue and suggests some potential solutions: 

1. When the Account level is selected, display its subfolders in the right pane with summary info (total read/unread).
2. Don't let users select the Account Level if they can't do anything with it. (If there is no functionality available, don't allow this level to be selected) 
3. Display the following text in the thread pane: "There are no messages available at this level. Please select a folder." 
4. Display the following text in the thread pane: "There are no messages available at this level. Please select a folder. To view settings for this account click here." (where "here" is a link to the Account Settings dialog for the selected account). 
5. Provide static account information about the selected account and provide a link to the Account Settings dialogs. Becomes 2 pane mail instead of 3 pane mail. 
6. Display account information and allow the user to modify account setting Feedback and ideas appreciated.