Recent items.
Amazon has ‘em: a sidebar that shows the last few books, DVDs, or CDs I looked at.
Salesforce has ‘em: a sidebar that shows the last few accounts, contacts, and opportunities I looked at.
Every web site needs a “recent items”. Every application needs a “recent items”.
My email client needs a sidebar with the 5 most recent emails I viewed. iTunes needs a sidebar with the most recent songs I played. My web browser needs a sidebar with the most recent web pages I viewed. My calendar program needs it. My IM program needs it. Et cetera et cetera et cetera.
Why? Because if you looked at something recently, there’s a good chance you want to look at it again right now!
The recent items need to be in a sidebar. Not hidden behind any menus. There should be exactly zero clicks required to get to the recent items.
Sayonara, babycakes.