"People often ask how we decide what to build next. It's usually a mix of factors, like how many users are asking for it (think delete button, vacation responder, and IMAP, among others), how useful we think it will be (think chat, conversation view, etc.) or how much fun it will be to work on (this is actually really important). We have all sorts of debates about each option, we weigh the pros and cons, and then some of the time we probably make the wrong decision," Keith Coleman, Product Manager, mentioned the reasons for implementing the new platform.
At this point, no less than 13 functions are available under the Gmail Lab link included in all Gmail accounts. All you need to do is to navigate to Settings and click on the last tab called Labs. Here you can find all the available experimental features. For instance, you can now choose new chat emoticons, mouse gestures for Gmail, custom keyboard shortcuts, custom date formats and many others. Obviously, the main goal of this testing platform is actually to get feedback, so feel free to send your opinion about the new features to Google.
