more on usability...

After reading another of Jakob Nielsen's usability articles, this one comparing and contrasting the usability of Kerry and Bush's email newsletters over a period of time, I don't know that I'll ever look at a mass mailing the same way again. I was on neither candidate's mailing list, although I received Kerry emails at work. I did not usually read them, but deleted them as I would delete any spam. The fact that I would delete them as spam (although part of the reason I deleted them was because I did not request them) makes me wonder how many other people would as well. If the way that the candidate got my email address was because I had to enter it as a way to access certain information on their website or because I donated money or filled out a volunteer form, then how was I supposed to expect a newsletter up to four or five times a week.

One thing Nielsen pointed out that I find very true, is that if the email doesn't come from Kerry or Bush themselves, it really does appear like spam. The candidate should use the subject line properly and explain that the email is a "Kerry campaign update" for example. I know who Mary Beth Cahill and Ken Mehlman are, but I doubt my mother or even some of my best friends do. With the high tech spam blockers these days, how many of those one or two million subscribers do you think actually read the emails?