Boxes and Arrows: Comments by Yaniv Nord

Yaniv Nord — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 20:07:14 GMT

I believe that the book would serve as a vehicle for thinking about questions such as:
1. What does it mean to codify guidelines for how others should communicate?
2. How should we, as user experience professionals, be using email as a form of communication? Are we obliged to adhere to some kind of standard, however one defines that?
3. Is there value in the authors’ definition of “good” email usage?

I hope this provides more clarity, Donna.

Yaniv Nord — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 16:51:44 GMT

Hi Chris,

The book does not contain a ton of information about signatures, though a couple of key points are raised: 1) Let people know when you are emailing from a mobile device (it will help them forgive your typos on that small keypad and also provides some nice context); and 2) Avoid long rambling, lawyerly disclaimers.

I would add that you should definitely avoid graphics in your signature line – they often show up as phantom attachments in the inbox and generally add bulk to the message.

That being said, some rules are made to be broken. A noteworthy example is the office manager at my current company, who has email signature that spans about 40 lines and includes answers to every questions you might want to ask someone in his position. Forgot the login information for the building’s guest registration system? Find one of his emails and look in the signature. Need to book travel through the company’s corporate system? Look in the signature. It’s quite brilliant really, because by attaching that information to every email he’s kept you from emailing him with the same stupid question that he’s already answered 50 times! His signature functions as a highly user-centric portal to the company’s intranet. Who would know better than him what kinds of office information people are constantly seeking?

Yaniv Nord — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 23:57:00 GMT

Chris – Outlook has a control on its signature settings which lets you only attach a signature to your first message – the office manager I mentioned thankfully enables that feature. So, yes, agreed, no need to bury me in a signature tsunami on every reply :)