Combining a better user interface with algorithms seems like the obvious angle of attack. But I think there might be a better one.
Automate the whole thing. Get rid of the interface.
You know those virtual assistant services people use to manage their mundane emails? Imagine if you automated all of that.
It sounds like a ridiculous idea. How can I allow a machine to reply for me?
But I would start with the simplest mundane use cases. If you can automate complete handling of even a small percentage of a busy user's emails, they will be delighted. On your end, you don't have to literally automate it on day one. You can semi-automate it with some human help and over time use the data to reduce the human input.
Over time as the user got more comfortable, they might not mind automating more of their emails.
We do in a way automate classification of mail in certain instances, which allows the user to correct the system in case we get it wrong, but it's important the the UI is intuitive and doesn't seem like a magical black-box full of pretentious AI.
Automate the whole thing. Get rid of the interface.
You know those virtual assistant services people use to manage their mundane emails? Imagine if you automated all of that.
It sounds like a ridiculous idea. How can I allow a machine to reply for me?
But I would start with the simplest mundane use cases. If you can automate complete handling of even a small percentage of a busy user's emails, they will be delighted. On your end, you don't have to literally automate it on day one. You can semi-automate it with some human help and over time use the data to reduce the human input.
Over time as the user got more comfortable, they might not mind automating more of their emails.