An image illustrating a somewhat analogous situation.
I consider this to be a common problem.
So you're receiving an email. Maybe it's about a flight, about a hotel room, it could be a lot of things. In any case you are receiving it. It's in your inbox now. So you naturally keep it for future reference.
Then one day you're there, at the place where this very email is critical for the success of your mission. A mission-critical email - we all receive those from time to time.
And now you realize that you have to download an attachment. But the internet connection is poor at best. You need to open it now, and you're not even sure if it says what it needs to say. And the format is some weird format which you're trying to open on your new phone which doesn't even have a proper PDF reader installed yet. And when you've finally installed the extra app and downloaded the attachment, there is this amazing struggle to zoom in order to find what was sought for.
Addressed to: internet.
Subject: Emails
Content:
Tho whom it might concern,
Please always include the following things if they apply:
- For flights, the exact flight info. That includes time, date, destination, flight number, gate and seat if possible.
- The tracking code for any packages. Yes, make it a link so that I can click on it and quickly see. Any links leading only to your home page are unnecessary, thank you. No, I don't want to install your tracking app before you can prove that you are capable of showing me the tracking information in the first place.
- For hotel stays, include the name and address of the hotel (Google Maps link also, please), the duration of the stay, the price and anything else I might need to convince the staff at the hotel to let me in when I'm standing in the lobby at 11.30PM wanting to sleep.
- For anything having a QR code: please simply include the QR code directly in the email. My local movie theather does that, and it's a beautiful thing. And they of course include all the other stuff I would need (name of movie, location, time, how many we are, where we're sitting, the six-character code I can use in case the QR scanner at the movie theater doesn't work, the total price so that I can tell my friends how much it cost when they ask).
Zero attachments. All the info. Perfection.
So you're receiving an email. Maybe it's about a flight, about a hotel room, it could be a lot of things. In any case you are receiving it. It's in your inbox now. So you naturally keep it for future reference.
Then one day you're there, at the place where this very email is critical for the success of your mission. A mission-critical email - we all receive those from time to time.
And now you realize that you have to download an attachment. But the internet connection is poor at best. You need to open it now, and you're not even sure if it says what it needs to say. And the format is some weird format which you're trying to open on your new phone which doesn't even have a proper PDF reader installed yet. And when you've finally installed the extra app and downloaded the attachment, there is this amazing struggle to zoom in order to find what was sought for.
Addressed to: internet.
Subject: Emails
Content:
Tho whom it might concern,
Please always include the following things if they apply:
- For flights, the exact flight info. That includes time, date, destination, flight number, gate and seat if possible.
- The tracking code for any packages. Yes, make it a link so that I can click on it and quickly see. Any links leading only to your home page are unnecessary, thank you. No, I don't want to install your tracking app before you can prove that you are capable of showing me the tracking information in the first place.
- For hotel stays, include the name and address of the hotel (Google Maps link also, please), the duration of the stay, the price and anything else I might need to convince the staff at the hotel to let me in when I'm standing in the lobby at 11.30PM wanting to sleep.
- For anything having a QR code: please simply include the QR code directly in the email. My local movie theather does that, and it's a beautiful thing. And they of course include all the other stuff I would need (name of movie, location, time, how many we are, where we're sitting, the six-character code I can use in case the QR scanner at the movie theater doesn't work, the total price so that I can tell my friends how much it cost when they ask).
Zero attachments. All the info. Perfection.
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