Handling Email Overload: The Contact Form
People like to talk about dealing with email overload. Kottke brings up the topic, again.
First, before you give away your email address, you can “force” or “ask” users to read an FAQ, or disclaimer. You can tell them what to expect and what the rules are. Basically, the idea is to manage expectations. Second, there are probably some good ways to handle contact forms better than we do now. I already mentioned adding disclaimers. You could also add priority codes (perhaps as a drop down or radio buttons). One approach that I think is worth thinking about, mainly because it is unique, is to let users know just how busy you are at the time they are going to send you an email. Moock.org uses a color coding system to let users know how busy he is. Green for “I’m kind of free” to orange for “I’m really busy, but not completely buried” to others. As long as the color coding system makes sense and is clearly explained, this is a good idea I think. I use color coding all the time with my email. I set certain colors to certain people and it makes email scanning much, much easier.