Google Calendar

Google Calendar is a flexible scheduling tool for groups as well as individuals. Individuals can create events in their own calendar using the intuitive tools featured on the site. The online application works like most scheduling software and includes 5 calendar views: Day, Week, Month, Next 4 Days, and Agenda. This affords users the opportunity to see their events in whatever scale is most appropriate. Labels can be created only by creating a new calendar. This could be confusing for some users who are more familiar with the terms used in other programs. However, the dialogs for creating and managing each calendar are simple and straight forward.









For groups, Google Calendar can be a valuable resource and tool. Group calendars can be created and the creator can grant various levels of access to each group member. Access can range from “Make changes AND manage sharing,” “Make changes to events,” “See all event details,” to “see free/busy information (no details).” This allows the creator freedom to have the calendar changeable by some and only viewable by others. This also allows group members with access to not only change events, but to add members and change their access levels at any time. Jason set up our "HCI" Google Calendar to plan group events. He gave us all administrator-level access, but I experimented with changing it as is reflected in the following graphic:









The application allows users to set up notifications via email, phone, or pop-up. Of the three, I tested the email and pop-up options. The email was not sent before the event, but the pop-up did show up on time. For the pop-up to work, the browser switched to the window in which Google Calendar was open. It seems that the application needs to be running in order for that type of reminder to work properly. It was a good attention-getting device, however.

A cool feature, but one that may need some tweaking, is the ability to schedule events from Gmail. Certain messages trigger the creation of an “Add this event” box. What is frustrating about this, however, is that one expects that box to appear on the left side of the screen with the other Gmail tools but it appears on the right side in the same column as the advertisements. If one is not aware to the capability, it might be hard to find. However, the software does a great job of interpreting the data and creating events at the right time and date when the utility is used.









Another interesting feature is the ability to add events using text messaging. I was dubious about Google’s claim that you could write a fairly conversational-sounding text and have Google Calendar understand how to schedule it. I wrote, “Write rough draft @ 12:45” and sent it to “GVENT.” I received a text response stating that my event had been created. I was sure that there would have been a problem because I did not indicate which day. However, Google Calendar understood that I meant the same day and posted an event starting at 12:45pm named “Write rough draft.” Pretty impressive.

Google Calendar is also available on the mobile web, assuming that the phone has the capability to view the page. It would be interesting to see how the application looks on a mobile phone and how many of the features work as promised in that environment.

The application also responds to keyboard shortcuts, but users have to look that information up in the “Help” section to discover how to do that. The shortcuts are fairly intuitive. The “Help” section is somewhat barebones. After seeing a mention of “GVENT” in one of the subsections, I had to do a separate search in order to find out what that meant.

Overall, Google Calendar is useful for groups in terms of planning and describing events. While there are some limitations and possible bugs, the application is flexible and intuitive, making it a great scheduling tool.