Convention, consistency, familiarity ... and the Gmail delete button.

Well, here's a case of when the guideline of 'make interfaces that are consistent with users' existing experiences' won the day. Now Gmail has a 'delete' button. And, I have to admit I was using the feature, even when it was buried under the dropdown. So I've been saved a few clicks, and my mental model of how to deal with a ton of data feels complete again. But it's a shame the adventure of email without a delete button had to end.

More blogs about customers, google, design, heuristics.