[Design] Don't we not need Sort?

[Mimi Yin]

Do we really need sort in this 'new world PIM' we're creating?

+ Is 'sort' a relic of less sophisticated data models?
+ Is it even meaningful to the user to have a sort order for the Who  
column? Date column?
+ Is it even meaningful to the user to have a sort order for the  
Stamping columns?
+ Should we be filtering views instead?
+ Should we be putting our energy into search/navigating between  
related Items instead?

What are the most common use cases for sort?
=====
1. Sort and Scan to Find
+ I wanted to see the latest stuff: I keep my Inbox sorted by Date  
received.
+ I need to find something I think I got yesterday, I sort by Date  
and scan.
+ I need to find something someone sent me. I sort by From: and I  
scan for the email.
+ I need to review all the emails I haven't read on the design list,  
I sort by the status column to see all the Unread messages together.

It seems like, these should really be handled with filters and/or bi- 
directional references
+ Click on a Contact to see all messages related to that Contact
+ Specify an attribute, e.g. Date received and click around on the  
mini-calendar to filter the collection based on the dates selected.

2. Section
+ I want to see all my tasks grouped by Project
+ I want to see all my tasks grouped by Person
+ I want to see all my tasks grouped by Context

These should be handled by Sections. Deriving Sections from sort  
order is largely meaningless. (e.g. What if a column has multiple  
values? Multiple recipients, Multiple projects? Do you create a  
section for each combination/permutation of values?)

Also interesting to note: Gmail doesn't have sort. They have filters,  
search and Contact items.

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