Replying to email with structured responses

Structured response objects include buttons, menus and formatted fields that an email sender can insert in a message to elicit predetermined responses from recipients. Two studies explored the usefulness of structured response objects in meeting the needs of everyday email. In Study 1, subjective content classifications suggested that more than half of typical email messages are requests or answers to requests. Further, a significant proportion of requests and answers could be expressed as structured response objects, the most common one being the choice of a single item from a predetermined list. Study 2 experimentally determined social factors that affect preference for structured responses compared with free form text. It found an overall preference for replying with structured responses compared with text. But, in accordance with social richness theories, this preference was reduced for ambiguous messages and for those of a personal nature. Together, these results suggest that structured response objects can be a useful tool to increase the convenience and efficiency of electronic messaging.