I'm not sure where they got the idea - but who understand what drives innovators.
I've been using Inbox for awhile and at first I liked it - it solved many of the problems that I have with email in general. I use the Tabs feature in GMail which hides email I probably don't want to read. This cut down the number of times my phone said "you've got mail" -- I can batch read/delete promotions.
Great I thought! Inbox does this better?! After a week of kicking it around the block I started to like it less and less. I'm still 100% eat-the-dog-food on my phone.
Sure it has it little bugs which I can overlook. It is the concepts that I'm evaluating.
First - I'm never sure I've read all of my email. The categories sort in different places depending upon the most recent email behind door #1. If I delete an email - then the whole category slides down and sorts based upon the next most recent email.
Second - Archive vs Delete. They assume that every email you read you'll want again later. Or everything you archive you'll never look at again (kind of the SMS approach - who reads SMS a week later?!) It is easier Done a message - but takes 2 taps to delete. For me - I either want to refer to the email again, or Never see it. "Hi - here are the directions to get to X" - I might need those again. "Here's a discount offer that must be used today" It's like that pile on my desk - either something I might want to read next month - or toss it in the trash. Inbox only has 1 mode of operation --- place it on that pile on the desk.
Third - it is a task based UI design. Most operations require 2 taps to get anything done. The basics are all single taps. But the next most used features are at least 2. Open Tasklist - Pick Task. ActionList -> Action. I've seen UI designs like this before and they become tedious to use in the long run.
Everytime I open Gmail I notice emails that I have forgotten to do something with. For whatever reason I have overlooked them in Inbox. Something just isn't right. Maybe I'm using it wrong. Someone emails me a question - I can't get to it now... Snooze it? Sounded like a great feature. Out of sight out of mind. GMail - it just lingers on my list. Inbox - it can stay hidden behind door #3 such that I forget about it. I can't deal with this Now..maybe later...but Snooze forces Later...and later is defined as "when I have free time."
The zero inbox sounded great. The problem is - my inbox is more a todo list and somethings are never really done. I tag things and then archive them - family photos, cool new toolkits to take a look at etc. A collection of crap all organized and packed away.
I've given them feedback. I go back to GMail to feel relaxed and make sure all of my email is read.
yeah but.... that's where the [smart] people are. Sure they could move to the corn fields of the mid-west. It isn't simply cost-of-living - it's finding a place with enough people who have the necessary skillsets. There may be smart people everywhere, but in a small area there may not be enough of them.
Remember to say hello to your bank teller.