User Centered

Here's some duplication of effort (or some vestigial form elements that never got removed during the last redesign)... the FedEx.com tracking application asks for "your email address" for no apparent reason since you can't leave the other emails blank and submit.

The "your email address" field is optional and I'm not exactly sure why it's there in the first place...or at least why it's not part of the "other" email addresses.

It seems strange to have an "email me something" feature and the email isn't required(as far as form validation is concerned). I see the value in the other email fields to let others know, but why is my email address seperated out? I would like "my address" to also have the customization options (ie Delivery Status) as well. Strange design.

The other head-scratcher: you see the button above to Email results? Huh? Isn't that what I'm in the process of doing? What's the difference between a result and an update (from the first screen)? Why have a seperate function for it? Clicking it shows:

Note the button has changed, "tracking updates" takes you back to the first screenshot.

E-mail your detailed tracking results (optional)

Does result mean "end result?" meaning only when it's delivered? Isn't that covered by the Delivery Status checkbox in the first screen? Is it just me misunderstanding the point of these two forms or could they just as easily be combined and maybe have an "send: updates|results"radio control (although I'm still not sure exactly what the difference is).

Minor minus points for having to scroll back up to the "quick help" link and then digging through a help file (with no links or table of contents) to find out what an exception update actually means. Why not just link directly to the definition? In general, these pages just need some good old fashioned word-smithing.

But my mom always told me to end with something nice, so... I do like that you can select your email format (html/text/wireless)...even though it's only on one of the two email screens.