The new improved and mature Gmail is finally here after being in the news for a long time. And, I am all excited to explore what this new Gmail design has to offer. The last major redesign was seen in 2011. We haven’t seen any major improvement in this giant email service since then. Google has improved its design after 7 years but that just not it.
Apart from the new look, few additional features and add-ons to the existing ones have also been added. The new functionality added mostly emphasizes to improve productivity, security and manage emails.
But all is not well with the new Gmail design, the radical design change can lead to some inconveniences to the users. So instead of doing the typical coverage, we have decided to share what’s right and what’s wrong with the new Gmail design. Let’s get started.
What’s right about the new Gmail design?
Security: When talking about security, Gmail has introduced 2 new features known as the ‘Confidential mode‘ and ‘Phishing warnings‘.
The confidential mode enables users to add an expiration date to the email so the email expires after a certain amount of time set by the sender. This mode allows you to revoke emails and add a two-factor authentication. In two-factor authentication, the recipients have to verify themselves before opening the email. For business account users, Gmail also allows the sender to block forwarding, downloading and printing emails to prevent sensitive data to leak.
Being the popular email service has its perks as well as the downside. And, with Gmail, that downside has to be malware which keeps on increasing day by day. I mean just look at your inbox and spam folder you’ll see tons of emails containing some kind of virus waiting to destroy your device. Now comes the Phishing Warning feature to the rescue. This mode will let you know about the suspicious emails. A big red box will be highlighted to the users when they open such emails which is hard to overlook.
Intelligence: Google has integrated machine learning in Gmail. Google’s new intelligent features in Gmail helps users to better manage their emails and reduce the email-overload problem. It includes features such as assistive unsubscribe; one-click option to unsubscribe, Fewer push notifications; pushing notifications for only high priority emails, nudging; designed to address only important emails and smart reply; suggesting users few short responses for the email.
Better usability: Better usability brings enhanced productivity and efficiency for the users. The new features include a side panel functionality which allows users to add add-ons such as shows Calendar, Google Keep, Google Tasks etc, hover actions, option to view attachments before opening the email and allowing users to snooze emails and reply later.
What’s wrong with this new revamped Gmail?
I love all the features mentioned above so far. But, this revamped version of Gmail does have some drawbacks to it, such as the following:
Looks Occupied: The new slider on the right and the attachment options below the email eat a lot of space. This has led to emails occupying more space and thus showing fewer emails at a single glance. This can be annoying for certain users and take a lot of time to adjust. However, the users get an option to disable them and show on the right end of the email.
Google’s algorithms scan your data: Even though AI features can be turned off on email, Google is scanning your email for other purposes. Google has also declined to disclose how long it keeps data from Gmail scans. After the Cambridge Analytica scandal, privacy has become a big issue. Users should keep this in mind.
Not that effective: Features such as nudging and snoozing emails might not be that effective as due to human behavior.
To sum things up, Gmail’s design has been finally revamped and is going to stay for a while. Most of the Google’s new features are intriguing and are going to increase the efficiency and productivity of the users. What are your thoughts? Do let us know in the comments section.
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