Facemail : preventing common errors when composing email

Abstract

Facemail is a system designed to investigate and prevent common errors that users make while composing emails. Users often accidentally send email to incorrect recipients by mistyping an email address, accidentally clicking "Reply-to-all" rather than just "Reply", or using the wrong email address altogether. Facemail is a user interface addition to an email client that provides the user with more information about the recipients of their email by showing their actual faces. This form of information is much more usable than the simple text in current displays, and it allows the user to determine whether his email is going to the correct people with only a glance. This thesis discusses the justification for this system, as well as the challenges that arose in making it work. In particular, it discusses how to acquire images of users based on their email address, and how to interact with lists, both in learning their members as well as displaying them to the user. This thesis discusses how Facemail fits into current research as well as how its ideas could be expanded into further research.