Neatly Tied Together with a Ribbon

 

My Microsoft roots are in Office. My first job here was supporting Word 6.0. In fact, I remember interviewing for that job the day that Windows 95 released. When the interviewer asked me if I was going to upgrade to Windows 95, I replied that I'd like to, but I couldn't afford to upgrade from 4MB to 8MB of memory because it would cost me $400.

Times sure have changed! Speaking of change, anyone who's looked at the new interface in Office 2007 knows what a radical UI change took place with the current release. (How'd you like that segue?) When I first saw the Office ribbon, my first thought was that we were nuts! I predicted that no one would like it and people would run from it in frustration after spending hours trying to find a simple feature that had been subverted to a big button somewhere on the Ribbon. I was completely wrong. The Ribbon is widely considered user-interface genius now (by many people outside of Microsoft) which clearly illustrates why Microsoft isn't stupid enough to put someone like me in charge of UI design.

I recently listened to the latest edition (as of this writing) of the Windows Weekly podcast.  It featured an interview with Jensen Harris and Jacob Jaffe of the Office 2007 team, and it offered remarkable insight into the development of this radical change in Office. In a particularly amusing passage, Jensen references the common belief that Microsoft screws everything up until version 3.0, and he points out that the Office team built 3 versions of the new user-interface into the development phase.

If you're an Office 2007 user and you are frustrated trying to find a particular feature, the interactive guides on the Office Web site will let you select a feature in the Office 2003 interface and it will then dynamically transition to the Office 2007 interface and show you where that feature or command is located in the new interface. Now that's really cool!

These days, I spend most of my time in Visual Studio and Expression Web. I think it would be very interesting to see how the Ribbon interface could be incorporated into those products to expose existing features and make the interface less cluttered. What do you think?

If you want to read more on the Office interface from the inside, read Jensen's blog.

Published 28 February 07 10:03 by jamesche
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# Mike said on July 23, 2007 4:47 PM:

"User Interface Genius"?  Hardly.  I spent weeks in Word 2007 (on a test server through work) trying to locate Heading 2 style... found it when I was about to give up.

I can find it in only a second in previous versions of Word.   Also, I like to create my own toolbars that launch either built-in commands or macros, and then tear it off so that it floats near where I am working.   Very useful thing.  But... Microsoft now seems to feel it knows better how I need to work than I do, so my useful tools have been banished, and my hand slapped for working the way I like to.

I develop software for a living.   If anyone asks me if I can put a ribbon interface in my software applications, my response will be "What the hell for?  Why ruin the application?".   Even if I did, the license agreement would not allow me to offer the users an option to use "classic" menus and toolbars (WTF?)

When I first heard about the Ribbon, it was through reading an article in a UK-based PC magazine.  Those magazines are known for splashing humour throughout the text- it gives the mag some character.  I assumed at first they were joking about the Ribbon.  Alas, they were serious.

Microsoft tells us menus are now the wrong way to go, after many years of getting users accustomed to it.  Menus predate Windows, becoming staple GUI components in all the major operating systems from the Mac, to GEM (on the good old Atari ST)to Amiga to Linux to Windows... People know how to use menus, and it's really not difficult to navigate them.  They're logical, and most importantly, they show you what commands are available.  If there are too many menus and submenus, don't blame it on the menus, blame it on bloatware.  The reason most users only use a small fraction of the features is not, as we are being told, because they are buried in the menus and thus not "discoverable", but rather that most users don't NEED those more obscure features.   I have NEVER had a need for NetMeeting or online collaboration through Word -- everyone sends the document through email for review and comment.  Why?  Because that's how they prefer to work.

Will I spend my money to upgrade (if you can call it that)?   Not a chance, as long as the Ribbon is my only option, rather than an interface which actually lets me get things done easily and in a timely manner.  I will stick to Office 2003 for as long as it is useful.  I also have OpenOffice.org (OOo), which is free and open source, and thankfully there is no plan to put a ribbon in it (in fact, Microsoft would likely sue if they did).   Chances are, the development of OOo will accelerate, because there will be even more demand for a usable productivity suite that is affordable.

No thanks, Microsoft.  You can shove the ribbon.

# jamesche said on July 23, 2007 4:58 PM:

There's no doubt but that people are polarized by the Ribbon; they either love it or hate it. I think it's clear which camp you're in. :)

Jim

# Mike said on July 23, 2007 5:33 PM:

Yes, it's clear.

It's a shame that most of the attention on Office 2007 seems to be on the user interface.   I've always been working under the assumption that the point of the user interface is to allow the user to easily interface with the software's features, and that a good interface should be pretty much unnoticed by the user because they are focused on their work.

When the focus is on the interface, with the manufacturer spending a huge amount of time, money and resources trying to convince people that the new interface is better, then this indicates something is seriously wrong.  If it is so much better, it should speak for itself.  If it is so much better, why are so many people complaining about it?  And why are there now several third party products now hitting the market for the sole purpose of "hacking" Office in order to get back the familiar interface?   At least issue a service pack that gives us the option.  Why is that so much to ask?

We're told the ribbon is for better "discoverability".   I already "discovered" the useful features in the Office apps I use long ago -- why should I now have to waste time while I "rediscover" where they've been hidden?  Moreover, the new UI appears to be designed by someone that thinks the average user is an idiot - which is, frankly, insulting, and yet another reason to get away from Office products, and possibly Microsoft products altogether, if this is what they think of the users.  Remember, without the users, Microsoft would not be what it is today.

Frustrated users = lost customers and bad PR.   Where I am working, we looked at Access 2007 for the many applications we have, and we're leaning more toward VB.  At least for now.  Linux is looking more and more attractive.

# SimonK said on September 17, 2007 8:04 AM:

You're right; the ribbon is a disaster. I'm often reduced to clicking on the tabs more-or-less at random to try and find things. I've used Office for years and years and this version is easily the most unusable.

Also, it takes up way too much screen-space. Microsoft thinks it's a good idea to fill the top of my screen with big buttons for things I will never want to use - so I turn the wretched thing off anyway.

# dbaguy said on August 1, 2008 10:46 AM:

I absolutely HATE the ribbon interface. So, much so that I'm readily switching to any alternative application that does not use it even if I have to give up some features.

Another really stupid idea from Microsoft. Maybe M$ needs a new motto, 'stupidity starts here'.

# MarcelK said on September 22, 2009 6:10 AM:

It's already 2009 and we are looking for a move to 2007 but with the new interface we are very reluctant to do so. I hope that Microsoft fired all those ribbon disaster programmers. They should because with the financial crisis at this time people will not invest in a MS products with ribbons.

We are waiting for the 2010 version but we heard that the ribbon is still there. A second disaster.

I totally agree with Mike. I personally cannot get used to the ribbon. It is an awkward interface. I started using OpenOffice.org more and more. So if the selling stops Microsoft knows where the customers are gone to, OOo or Sun StarOffice.

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