Will Meurer is a UI Guy at Not too long ago I decided to try out the labs feature Mouse Gestures. It seemed like such an unconventional idea—a non-keyboard shortcut—one that I would surely at some point remove due to lack of use. You see I have this problem with shortcuts; I don’t put them to enough use to the point that they become second nature.
This shortcut mechanism stuck with me, though. I have no explanation for it, but I use these mouse gestures all the time to move to the previous or next message. The gesture is simple: click and drag to the left (previous) or right (next). When you begin to drag, a target is revealed 50ish pixels away, darkens as you approach it, and triggers when the mouse touches it.
It’s better just to check it out. Go to Settings > Labs in gmail, enable the feature, and you’ll see what I mean. It’s nice and inexplicably habit-forming.
