Should I Build It Should I Build It
06 Jun 2025
Productivity

Chat like ui, offline search , single thread all emails , simple and ...

...freash design

Confidence
Engagement
Net use signal
Net buy signal

Idea type: Early Niche

A small but engaged group cares enough to comment, suggesting real potential if you can improve the experience. This is your chance to create something better for people who clearly want a solution.

Should You Build It?

Yes, build now!

Your are here

Your idea for a chat-like email client with offline search, single-thread organization, and a simple design falls into the 'Early Niche' category. This means there's a small but engaged group of users who are actively seeking a better email experience. The fact that similar products have generated a high average number of comments (48) suggests a strong desire for innovation in this space. While the number of directly competing products is low (2), you should take this as an opportunity to really nail your offering. Focus on building a great product, because people want an alternative solution and are willing to adopt a new email experience, but don't expect a ton of direct feedback, so YOU need to go out and get it.

Recommendations

  1. Start by interviewing the most active commenters from similar products like ChatInbox and UnInbox. Understand their pain points with existing email solutions and what they're truly looking for in a modern email client. Leverage the discussion and criticism summaries to understand the specific issues users have with similar products and how you can address them.
  2. Prioritize building a simple, functional version (MVP) of your email client that addresses the core frustrations identified in your user interviews. Focus on the chat-like UI, offline search, and single-thread organization features, ensuring they are intuitive and easy to use. Don't try to do everything at once, concentrate on the essential elements.
  3. Implement a monetization strategy from the start, even if it's just a small, symbolic amount. This will help you validate the demand for your product and ensure that users are invested in its success. Consider a freemium model with limited features or storage, or offer a subscription-based premium version.
  4. Actively solicit feedback from your first 10 paying customers and use their input to continuously improve your product. Engage with them regularly, respond to their questions and concerns, and demonstrate that you are committed to their satisfaction. This will help you build a loyal user base and iterate on your product based on real-world usage.
  5. Focus specifically on your niche segment—those actively seeking alternatives to traditional email clients. Market your product directly to this audience through targeted online advertising, social media campaigns, and relevant online communities. Emphasize the unique benefits of your chat-like UI, offline search, and single-thread organization features.
  6. Carefully consider the criticisms of similar products. For instance, UnInbox was criticized for an unclear use case and a lengthy onboarding process. Ensure your onboarding is streamlined and that the value proposition of your product is immediately clear. Address these pain points head-on to differentiate your product and attract users.
  7. Prioritize seamless integration with existing email services to make the transition as easy as possible for users. Offer features like easy import of existing emails and contacts, and ensure compatibility with popular email providers.

Questions

  1. Given that users have expressed concerns about the lack of integration with existing email services in similar products, how will you ensure a seamless and user-friendly transition for users switching to your email client?
  2. How will you address the concern that sender-based organization is not straightforward in other clients, and what unique approach will you take to make email organization more intuitive and efficient?
  3. Considering that users have criticized the unclear use case of similar products, how will you clearly define the target audience and specific benefits of your email client to differentiate it from existing solutions?

Your are here

Your idea for a chat-like email client with offline search, single-thread organization, and a simple design falls into the 'Early Niche' category. This means there's a small but engaged group of users who are actively seeking a better email experience. The fact that similar products have generated a high average number of comments (48) suggests a strong desire for innovation in this space. While the number of directly competing products is low (2), you should take this as an opportunity to really nail your offering. Focus on building a great product, because people want an alternative solution and are willing to adopt a new email experience, but don't expect a ton of direct feedback, so YOU need to go out and get it.

Recommendations

  1. Start by interviewing the most active commenters from similar products like ChatInbox and UnInbox. Understand their pain points with existing email solutions and what they're truly looking for in a modern email client. Leverage the discussion and criticism summaries to understand the specific issues users have with similar products and how you can address them.
  2. Prioritize building a simple, functional version (MVP) of your email client that addresses the core frustrations identified in your user interviews. Focus on the chat-like UI, offline search, and single-thread organization features, ensuring they are intuitive and easy to use. Don't try to do everything at once, concentrate on the essential elements.
  3. Implement a monetization strategy from the start, even if it's just a small, symbolic amount. This will help you validate the demand for your product and ensure that users are invested in its success. Consider a freemium model with limited features or storage, or offer a subscription-based premium version.
  4. Actively solicit feedback from your first 10 paying customers and use their input to continuously improve your product. Engage with them regularly, respond to their questions and concerns, and demonstrate that you are committed to their satisfaction. This will help you build a loyal user base and iterate on your product based on real-world usage.
  5. Focus specifically on your niche segment—those actively seeking alternatives to traditional email clients. Market your product directly to this audience through targeted online advertising, social media campaigns, and relevant online communities. Emphasize the unique benefits of your chat-like UI, offline search, and single-thread organization features.
  6. Carefully consider the criticisms of similar products. For instance, UnInbox was criticized for an unclear use case and a lengthy onboarding process. Ensure your onboarding is streamlined and that the value proposition of your product is immediately clear. Address these pain points head-on to differentiate your product and attract users.
  7. Prioritize seamless integration with existing email services to make the transition as easy as possible for users. Offer features like easy import of existing emails and contacts, and ensure compatibility with popular email providers.

Questions

  1. Given that users have expressed concerns about the lack of integration with existing email services in similar products, how will you ensure a seamless and user-friendly transition for users switching to your email client?
  2. How will you address the concern that sender-based organization is not straightforward in other clients, and what unique approach will you take to make email organization more intuitive and efficient?
  3. Considering that users have criticized the unclear use case of similar products, how will you clearly define the target audience and specific benefits of your email client to differentiate it from existing solutions?

  • Confidence: Low
    • Number of similar products: 2
  • Engagement: High
    • Average number of comments: 48
  • Net use signal: 25.8%
    • Positive use signal: 26.7%
    • Negative use signal: 0.8%
  • Net buy signal: 0.8%
    • Positive buy signal: 1.7%
    • Negative buy signal: 0.8%

This chart summarizes all the similar products we found for your idea in a single plot.

The x-axis represents the overall feedback each product received. This is calculated from the net use and buy signals that were expressed in the comments. The maximum is +1, which means all comments (across all similar products) were positive, expressed a willingness to use & buy said product. The minimum is -1 and it means the exact opposite.

The y-axis captures the strength of the signal, i.e. how many people commented and how does this rank against other products in this category. The maximum is +1, which means these products were the most liked, upvoted and talked about launches recently. The minimum is 0, meaning zero engagement or feedback was received.

The sizes of the product dots are determined by the relevance to your idea, where 10 is the maximum.

Your idea is the big blueish dot, which should lie somewhere in the polygon defined by these products. It can be off-center because we use custom weighting to summarize these metrics.

Similar products

Relevance

ChatInbox - Manage emails conversationally

19 Dec 2023 Email Productivity Business

ChatInbox transforms your email experience by converting your cluttered inbox into a streamlined, chat-like interface. It organizes emails conversationally, grouping messages and contacts, and supports editing in markdown.

ChatInbox is praised as a game-changer for email management due to its efficient and intuitive chat-like interface. Users are impressed with its ability to organize emails, simplify conversations, and offer features like bi-directional linking and markdown editing. The design is considered promising, and many users expressed excitement about the launch and the innovative approach to email organization. Some users highlighted the simplicity of the tool, while others mentioned the ability to organize emails by senders as a key feature.

Users expressed concerns about the lack of integration with existing email services and requested enhancements like priority tagging and smart notifications. There were also suggestions for more personalization options to customize the look and feel. Additionally, a user noted that sender-based organization is not straightforward in other clients.

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91
15
26.7%
15
91
26.7%
Relevance

UnInbox - Open source modern email for teams and professionals

12 Apr 2024 Open Source Email Productivity

A standalone email system that flips current experiences on their heads. Chat first approach with native collaboration. And soon powerful automations and integrations

The general sentiment is overwhelmingly positive, with users congratulating Omar and the team on the Uninbox launch. Many express excitement about the chat-first approach to email, its open-source nature, and its potential to replace Gmail. Several users praise the design and smooth onboarding experience. There are some questions about self-hosting, obtaining a free unin.me address, and the target customer. Some users are experiencing bugs, while others suggest improvements to the image and payment model. The innovative communication and collaboration tool is generating much enthusiasm.

Users criticize the unclear use case, suggesting instant messaging alternatives and questioning the ideal user for the email approach. The product needs more work, lacking bug reporting and email reply features. Onboarding is too lengthy and the 5-character limit is annoying. GDocs dominance casts doubt on the docs direction, while the lack of RSS integration and insufficient service integrations are noted. Users seek future automations and import utilities. The gray CTA color is hard to find and the landing page image is too zoomed out.

Avatar
806
81
33.3%
1.2%
81
806
34.6%
2.5%
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