Current information management workflows:

Why do people file?

• To manage what they need to follow up on versus what's done
• To put things into groupings so that they can be found later

Can we do this better?

What stops people from using the entire PIM?

• Silo barriers
  • Hard to get data from silo to another
  • Hard to see data across silos in one view
  • Hard to coordinate organizational structures in different silos
• Only one that has been surmounted is Calendar in Outlook
• How can we learn from Outlook's Calendaring workflows? Answer: Stamping

What can't you do with PIMs?

• Overview status
• Help you prioritize things

Design principles

• Not just about the power of the application: but is the app structured so that people will actually make the most of the features available?

Triage scenarios

• An email to respond to
• An email to reply to by the end of the week
• An FYI email
• A blog post to read if I ever visit Anchorage, Alaska
• A meeting agenda to write up today
• Meeting notes to write up by tomorrow
• A document to review
• An email to send out
• A photo to fix up and send out to my mom for Mother's Day

Stamping scenarios

• Think of stamping items as messages as item sharing, a way to keep track of everybody you've ever sent the item to
  • an event invitation
  • a document
  • a photo
  • a task request
  • a song
  • a joke forward
  • a list of restaurant recommendations

• A way to get emails that really represent tasks quickly into your task queue
• A way to get emails that really represent invitations quickly onto your calendar

What else should people be getting out of their PIMs?

• Lightweight planning tool
• Requires a feedback loop, ability to go from All things to Only this Project things

Persona studies: Katie

• Need for feedback loop

Shared task management using Personas

• Katie coordinating projects between developers and design
• Esther coordinating projects with Greg and Caroline
• Mitch and Freada keeping on top of all these projects