An experimental framework for email categorization and management

Abstract

Many problems are difficult to adequately explore until a prototype exists in order to elicit user feedback. One such problem is a system that automatically categorizes and manages email. Due to a myriad of user interface issues, a prototype is necessary to determine what techniques and technologies are effective in the email domain. This paper describes the implementation of an add-in for Microsoft Outlook 2000 TM that intends to address two problems with email: 1) help manage the inbox by automatically classifying email based on user folders, and 2) to aid in search and retrieval by providing a list of email relevant to the selected item. This add-in represents a first step in an experimental system for the study of other issues related to information management. The system has been set up to allow experimentation with other classification algorithms and the source code is available online in an effort to promote further experimentation.