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TopA large majority of email client solutions seeking better user interaction rely not only on header information but message content. We envisage three major approaches as far as information visualization is concerned:
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Time-based visualization.
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Thread-based visualization.
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Social-based visualization.
First and foremost, these approaches can work together and can all be part of a particular email client application. For example, time-based visualization can easily be found alongside thread-based visualization so it is a matter of how much each one contributes to the final package.
Time-based visualization highlights the importance of timestamp in emails. Emails can be displayed chronologically so one can figure out how content have changed over time.
The Themail application shows this approach. It relies on the content of messages to display interactions over time. Its interface shows a series of columns of keywords arranged along a timeline. Keywords are shown in different colors and sizes depending on their frequency and distinct conversations over time (Viégas, Scott, & Donath, 2006). Mailview is another tool that display emails chronologically. It includes focus+context views, dynamic filters and coordinated views (Frau, Roberts, & Boukhelifa, 2005). Also, FaMailiar is a tool to visualize email data over time, focusing on discovering communication rhythms and patterns. Some features include daily email averages, daily quality of emails, frequency of email exchanges, comparative frequency of email exchanges (Mandic & Kerne, 2004).