8.5 KiB
HEY overview video
Notes on overview.mp4, HEY's own two and a half minute "So how does HEY work?" walkthrough
(1920 by 1080, 148 seconds). The frames in screenshots/hey-video/ were pulled from it at the
moments below. The narration is transcribed in full at the end because it is the tightest
statement of the workflow anywhere, and the order it presents things in is the order a new user
meets them.
What the video shows, in order
The Imbox (0:06 to 0:20). A single centred column with a big serif-less "Imbox" title. Two groups: New for you at the top, Previously seen below, each row an avatar, subject, sender plus snippet, and a date. A mint pill in the top left reads "Screen 5 first-time senders". There is no sidebar, no count, no unread badge.
The Screener (0:22 to 0:33). A page titled The Screener with the line "The people below are trying to email you for the first time. You get to decide if you want to hear from them." One row per sender with a thumbs-up Yes and a thumbs-down No on the left. "Clear all" at the right.
Reply Later (0:36 to 0:50). Select rows by clicking their avatars, and a floating indigo action bar appears with Reply Later, Set Aside, Mark Seen, Move to, Reply Together, Workflow. After Reply Later the threads leave the list and stack in a pile at the bottom left; clicking the pile fans it out with a "Go to Focus & Reply" button.
Focus & Reply (0:50 to 0:55). A page that lines up every Reply Later thread with the latest message on the left and a reply box on the right. "Send email" per item.
Set Aside (0:58 to 1:05). The full bulk action bar: Reply Later, Set Aside, Mark Seen, Reply Together, Bubble Up Later, Label, Collection, Workflow, Merge, Ignore, Trash. Set Aside builds a second pile at the bottom right.
The HEY menu (1:08 to 1:10 and 1:27). Pressing H opens a command-palette style overlay: a "Type to go to a person, place, or label" field, six tiles for Imbox, The Feed, Paper Trail, Reply Later, Set Aside and Bubble Up with their number keys, then Your: Drafts, Sent, Contacts, HEY World, Clips, Snippets, Screened Out, All Files, Spam, Trash, Everything, then labels.
The Feed (1:11 to 1:17). Newsletters rendered already open in a scrolling column. The narration: "send all your newsletters, then view them in a scrollable feed, even open them within it."
The Paper Trail (1:18 to 1:24). A flat list with brand avatars, subtitle "The place for receipts, confirmations, and other transactional emails you receive." Opening one shows the thread page with a bottom action bar: Reply Now, Reply Later, Set Aside, Bubble Up, More.
All Files (1:30 to 1:35). A grid of every attachment with a filter by type: Images, PDFs, Calendar invites, Documents, Spreadsheets, Presentations, Media, Zip files, and "sent by everyone" to filter by person.
Ignore, Bubble Up, Workflows, notifications (1:36 to 1:55). Ignore drops you off a long thread silently. Bubble Up schedules a thread to return to the top of the Imbox on a chosen day. Workflows is a kanban board of threads. The thread options menu holds Mark Unseen, Send me push notifications, Ignore this thread, Add a note to self, Print this thread.
Clips, Rename, Notes, Read Together (1:56 to 2:19). Select text in a message and "Save clip"; the Clips library lists every clip with its sender and thread. Click a subject to rename it for yourself only ("people outside of HEY won't know about the new name"). Add a sticky note under an Imbox row. Select several threads and Read Together puts them on one page.
The closing list (2:20). Email address forwarding, reply to multiple emails at once, private notes to self, combine multiple threads on one page, share emails via a link, no spy tracking, HEY for domains, start a blog.
What to take from it
The video sells three things, and it sells them in this order for a reason: consent (the Screener), separation (Imbox, Feed, Paper Trail), and workflow (Reply Later, Set Aside, Focus & Reply). Everything after that is garnish. The two piles are the single strongest visual idea, and the action bar printing its key letters is the cheapest way to teach a keyboard.
The video also shows what HEY does not have: no reading pane, no way to see a list and a thread at once, and a lot of round trips between pages. That is the part we are not copying.
Transcript
So how does HEY work? Well, let's jump in. First, you get a fresh start with a new email address at hey.com. Once you log in, you're taken to your Imbox. And no, that's not a typo. Im stands for important. You have the newest emails at the top, and everything you've already read below that.
Now, the first time anybody emails your HEY address, their email gets sent to the Screener, which tells you how many people have emailed you for the first time. It's kind of like screening your calls. If you don't want to hear from someone, hit no. And you never have to hear from them again. If you do, hit yes.
Now back in your Imbox, let's say you want to respond to a few emails, but don't have time right now. Just click them, then hit Reply Later. Now those emails are organised neatly at the bottom of your Imbox. You can click on one to reply to it now, or go to Focus & Reply, where it lines them all up for you to reply to on one page. So you can knock them out one by one, distraction free.
Now, sometimes you have an email you want to access quickly without digging for it. Again, just click the email, but this time hit Set Aside. Now there's a different pile at the bottom of your screen for whatever you need to access quickly.
In addition to your Imbox, you also have the Feed, which is where you can send all your newsletters, then view them in a scrollable feed, even open them within it. You also have the Paper Trail, which is where your transactions, receipts, and shipping notices go. You just don't need to see them all the time.
And there's much more you can do in HEY. Need a file? Go to All Files to see all your files without having to dig through any emails. You can even filter them by file type or person. Want to get off a long email thread? Hit Ignore instead of asking someone to remove you. Don't want to forget an email? Hit Bubble Up, then schedule it to shoot to the top of your Imbox for whatever day you choose. Have a project with lots of steps? Use Workflows to organise emails on a kanban board. Don't want to miss an important email? Turn on notifications for a single thread. Need to grab a small detail later? Just clip it, then reference it in your Clips library instead of searching for it in an email. Want to change a subject line? Just rename it without messing it up for anyone else. Want to add a note on an email in your Imbox? Throw up a sticky note. Want to read emails quickly? Read it all together and you can read them all at once on one screen.
And it also does all these things, which is a lot. So maybe just give it a whirl yourself and unlock the magic of HEY at your own pace.