Minimal

stressed for motivation and achievement

2006-01-17

 

Office 12 User Interface blog

Whoever it was at Microsoft who decided it was time their developers started blogging, they should get some kind of medal. Latest in a long line of great weblogs is the Office 12 User Interface blog, written by Jensen Harris.

Quite a while back, I saw a few static screenshots of the Office 12 UI and was shocked. It looked like Microsoft had dropped a right clanger. Reading Jensen’s blog, however, reveals I was being a bit shortsighted (to say the least). I’m seriously impressed with the work they’ve done on usability. Even more impressive is the team’s courage to change such a familiar interface so radically. Jensen even posts videos of features in action where it helps to explain the changes, demonstrating a deep commitment to usability for his readers, too.

I’ve only been reading the blog for a week or two, but am doing my best to wade through the archives. Overall, it’s been absolutely fascinating. If you’re into UI too, this site is well worth a look.


Comments:
Thanks for the tip off.
 
I've just been shown round Word 12, they've made it mighty pretty and some of the tools (like the diagram creator thingy) are mint, but I can't help but think that changing all the shortcuts away from Windows standard ones (e.g. Alt F, P no longer equals 'Print') is a big step backwards in usability.
 
Yeah, I'm sure that not having a menu bar will take some getting used to.
 
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