Information Technology Central Services (ITCS) has launched a new way to access its campus e-mail service. Called Maize, it provides a more attractive webmail interface than the one ITCS has offered since 2002. It and the older system can be accessed at webmail.umich.edu.
Some campus users had concerns about the original interface, now named Blue, because of its older-style look. Although it is considered among the most powerful university webmail services in the country, based on overall functionality and utility, some campus members complained that it didn’t look modern and thus compared negatively to what they saw from peer institutions.
Maize adds the missing link to the ITCS e-mail service. Along with its distinctive fresh look and graphics, it offers often requested features such as easier access to the folder list and the ability to drag-and-drop messages from one folder to another.
Maize is based on the relatively new open-source RoundCube Webmail Project (roundcube.net). Open source means that the code is available to all at no cost, and developers who improve or create new features agree to share with other interested developers. As it has developed Maize, ITCS staff has provided many enhancements back to the project.
The initial response to Maize has been very positive.
“It has been very exciting to receive such enthusiastic feedback from the University community,” says Mark Montague, manager of the ITCS Web/Database Team. “We made our first priority addressing problems that had not been reported during the pilot period for Maize, and we’re focusing now on adding the top two features people have been requesting since it became available: automatic lookup of names from the U-M Online Directory and the ability to compose new messages in a separate window. We hope to make these new features available in the very near future.”
The Blue interface will continue to be available, and the two can be used interchangeably.
The development of Maize was a collaborative effort between ITCS and Michigan Marketing & Design. Web developer David Mudie created the modern look for both the webmail.umich.edu Web site and Maize.
“The challenge came in designing a clean look for the functions that the audience expects while meeting the technical and design needs of the ITCS team,” Mudie says. “My hope is that the icons, use of white space, color palette, and division of elements gives users an interface they can work with every day.”
The Maize and Blue webmail offerings are two ways to access e-mail on ITCS’ IMAP e-mail service. Members of the Ann Arbor campus community can also use e-mail programs such as Outlook on Windows and Mail.app on Macintosh computers as well as cross-platform programs like Thunderbird.
Students, especially, seem to prefer a Web client such as Maize instead of desktop e-mail clients. They can read and send mail from anywhere their computers can access the Internet. Webmail also is an excellent choice when traveling because any computer with an Internet connection can be used.
The ITCS Webmail group continues to develop Maize and is actively seeking input on how to further enhance their users’ experiences. User feedback can be sent to [email protected].
