[Design][Sum] triage list view - sorting

[Mimi Yin]

Let me see if I can summarize the options here:

NOW
1. The order in which items enter into NOW from 'Just NOW' to 'Old NOW'
2. By event start date/time or custom alarm date/time from 'Recently  
NOW' to 'Old NOW'. If an item has both, event start/date time always  
wins.
3. By event start date/time or custom alarm date/time from 'Recently  
NOW to Old NOW'. If an item has both, the 'next, upcoming date' wins.

Open Issue for #2 and 3: How do we sub-sort items that are not events  
and do not have alarms set?
For this reason, I recommend that we sub-sort the NOW section by #1.  
It approximates how your Email Inbox works, it's sorted in the order  
that the messages were sent/received.


LATER
1. In the order in which items will roll into the NOW section. In  
other words, By event start date/time or custom alarm date/time from  
'Imminently LATER' to 'Far in the Future LATER'. If an item has both,  
the 'next, upcoming date' wins.
2. By event start date/time or custom alarm date/time from  
'Imminently LATER' to 'Far in the Future LATER'. If an item has both,  
event start/date time always wins.

In both cases, I would assume that items that are not event and do no  
have alarms would be sorted at the bottom as 'Someday Maybes'.

Open Issue: How do we sub-sort the Someday Maybes?
+ In the order they were triaged to LATER?
+ By whatever Date appears in the Date column for each item? Date  
created? Date last modified? Date sent/received?

I recommend that we go with #1. If you're scanning your Later section  
to get a sense of what's coming up, you want to see everything that  
will happen in the next week. If you have an event planned for  
September, but you have a custom alarm set on it to remind you to buy  
tickets for it by the end of next week, you want to see that item on  
the horizon. In a sense, that's why you put that custom alarm on that  
event, precisely so you wouldn't forget it about it until September.

DONE
1. The order in which items were triaged to DONE.
2. By event start date/time or custom alarm date/time from  
'Imminently LATER' to 'Far in the Future LATER'. If an item has both,  
event start/date time always wins.
3. By event start date/time or custom alarm date/time from  
'Imminently LATER' to 'Far in the Future LATER'. If an item has both,  
the 'most recent date' wins.

Open Issues for #2 and 3:
+ How do we sub-sort items that are not events and do not have alarms  
set? Do they go above or below the items with event date/times and  
custom alarms?
+ How should those items be sub-sorted?
- In the order they were triaged to DONE; OR
- By whatever Date appears in the Date column for each item? Date  
created? Date last modified? Date sent/received?

I think Pieter has a point that people will remember past items by  
their event date/time rather than by their custom alarm date/time. So  
I would recommend #2 over #3. However, I still wonder about #1  
(assuming we can make it so that when you import/subscribe to a  
calendar, most of the items are sub-sorted in the DONE section by  
event start-time) because it avoids having to answer the Open Issues.

Mimi