The User Experience of Catharsis

I achieved an empty email inbox today:

It's a pretty amazing feeling to get that sucker emptied out. And even though it doesn't mean I don't have any actionable email right this minute (you can just make out some unread and marked for follow-up email in the image), it's nice to know that for a brief moment, there is nothing vying for my attention outside of what I have on my own task list.

Do you think Microsoft ever considered what "The Empty Inbox" would mean to a user in their design? I'll bet they didn't. I would hope that a little WAV of the Hallelujah Chorus would spin up each time if they had.

And yet, if you read anything on self-organization or Lifehacks (43Folders, GTD, etc.) you'll hear about the catharsis of the empty inbox and what it can mean to a person.

Moral: Sometimes the side-effects of a design can mean more to your users than most of what you intended to do for them.

Tags: Outlook, lifehacks, 43Folders, GTD, Getting Things Done, The Empty Inbox