New in Labs: Multiple Inboxes
I'm seriously into filters and labels. All the email I get related to Flash goes under my “flash” label, everything about paragliding goes under “flying,” and they all skip my inbox because that's how I like to stay organized.
Context & Ripple Effects
Gmail had already framed the inbox as a workflow problem in its 2005 effort to rethink the common inbox, then expanded the tools around it with label-focused Labs experiments in 2008. Multiple Inboxes extends that direction from sorting messages to giving different streams their own on-screen space.
First-order effects
- Gmail Labs users who route mail with filters and labels can separate those streams into multiple inbox views rather than forcing all attention through one primary queue.
Second-order effects
- Filters and labels become more valuable to Gmail users because they can shape both message routing and the layout used to process work, personal, or topic-specific mail.
Third-order effects
- Gmail is moving toward a configurable communications workspace, where the inbox is defined by a user's workflow rules rather than a single fixed message list.
The trend: Email clients are shifting from one universal inbox toward user-defined views built from filters, labels, and task-specific queues.