The Software Design Group is developing a new approach to software design, which focuses on the design of key concepts and abstractions that are necessary to understand in order to use a system and to use a system and to work on its codebase. This research will contribute to the development of this theory through a case study on email. This study will examine currently existing email clients in order to recognize the purposes and concepts that are implemented. Select concepts will be chosen and new concepts may be created for a specific niche audience that an email client will then be developed for. The aim of this project is to gain experience applying a theory of design and to evaluate how effective this approach is in guiding the design of new software applications.

From my past internships with One Kings Lane and Pinterest, I developed a strong passion for software design. I took Software Studio with Professors Daniel Jackson, Adam Chlipala, and Mark Day during Fall 2014 to further my interest. With this project, I am very excited to apply what I have learned and continue to expand my knowledge in the matter with a product that is used greatly by the general public.