World Wide Webber - Dear Microsoft UI Innovators...

Posted: 12 January 2009 @ 16:42 UT from London, UK

I've just read an article by one of your guys with an unfeasibly long title that says your ribbon is going to become pervasive within Windows 7. I'd like to plead with you not to let that happen because your ribbon is, well, crap. At best.

But don't take my word for it, after all I am a computer engineer and as a breed we're neither known for our aesthetic appeal nor for having well considered opinions that can influence senior-corporate-vp-product-manager-with-honours drones. Instead take these anecdotes and consider them, strongly.

My wife. I did for her what I thought was a nice thing, I installed Vista to keep her laptop up to date. She went nuts and told me to take "that thing" off her laptop and give her "Windows" back. I did, but I suspect she has never quite forgiven me for it and subsequently she became a Mac user, probably to stop me helpfully upgrading her in future. As an aside, she's also mad at Savas since he represents your organisation in our social circle. But enough with the Vista bashing, since I suspect you already know it's a turd and on with the rest.
My wife took her newly re-Window-sed laptop into university with her (prior to her Mac conversion). Part of her job as a palliative care doctor involves research, which involves statistics, which of course involves Excel. Here's where the problems begin because most folks are using "classic" Excel 2003 including the instructor of the module she's studying. Nobody in the class (including the smug Mac user) can fathom where the "thingies" are in my wife's version of Excel. And hey presto, I'm back in the bad books. Just for good measure, Savas is also back in the bad books (see (1) above). In fact Savas is rarely out of the bad books these days it seems.
One day a couple of weeks back I'm in the gym near the physiotherapist's station. A couple of ladies are having a lovely chat with the female physio about the latest celebutard weightloss programme or whatever. The conversation turns to the physio who manages her patients using Excel. Except in her mind it's not Excel, but "the new Windows Vista version of Excel" which she can't understand because she can't find anything in the new "Vista menus" which is really odd because my gym runs Windows XP. Of course she's really referring to the ribbon interface which is baffling to people who have become conditioned to File, Edit, View...Help. Fortunately the physio doesn't know Savas, so no bad karma there but the frustration is real, and if she ever does meet Savas he's going to have hell to pay.

So now I've given up several minutes of my life writing this, I think it's time for a bit of quid-pro-quo. Please, Windows UI team, stop listening to the sycophants who tell you each and every bell and whistle in your code constitutes an "amazing experience" and start thinking about all these people out here in the real world. All these people who, out of habit, use your software, and all these people you're meant to be helping. And when you've done empathising do something good, nay great, and give us an interface that works rather than something that is an "experience."

comments: 4

Comments:

#	Despite all the bad energy towards my way, I still love you both and really looking forward to skiing with you guys next weekend :-)))) .savas. Posted by Savas Parastatidis, email, url @ 12 January 2009 10:08 UT

Although its understandable that a radically changed UI will frustrate users at first, it should be noted that Microsoft spent loads of $$ on HCI and UX studies while creating the ribbon.

Vista is what happens when there´s little/no innovation for several years and they have to introduce it all at once instead of in incremental bursts.

Posted by Fredrik Kalseth, email, url @ 13 January 2009 07:52 UT

Simple users require a simple environment. Technical users require an advanced environment. Number of simple users >> number of technical users. An O/S in this age must provide both environments and default to the simple environment.

Also agree with para #2 of Fredrik.

Posted by Pinky @ 19 January 2009 04:00 UT

I am now running Windows 7 RC on my laptop. I actually love it. When I use a computer with Windows XP, it is like someone going from XP back to Windows 3.1, and who wants that?

Most people resist change. They usually need some compelling reason to do so. Nevermind that digging through menus to find something that gets your work done is much more difficult than the ease of a ribbon that is much more usable and logical. It makes getting things done more intuitive. If one actually spends some time using the ribbon, they will notice it is easier and faster to get things done.

It was interesting to me that AutoCAD now uses the ribbon starting with AutoCAD 2009. For the first time, AutoCAD is much more intuitive to use. Who wants to learn all of those cryptic inputs riht off the bat?

The Ribbon is the logical evolution of application usability.

There are those that choose to go to the Mac. For those that are rigid to change, it surprises me that they make that particular leap. I've used Macs many times. I've even helped friends troubleshoot and fix their problems. Seems as if the inability to learn how to learn the tools is universal.

This arguing about preventing the natural evolution of the OS is like the resistance to the natural evolution towards fully interactive digital books. Even when there is a technology that can prevent the excuse for using the digital book, the masses protest, at least the majority of the older generation.

Posted by Derek A Myers, email @ 14 June 2009 10:34 UT