| I see a problem - target user group. I'm watching MIX08 The Story of the Ribbon [1] and trying to be objective. He is optimizing for 50% who paste with mouse. Essentially it is Microsoft Bob 2.0. Office was done, "good enough" but some people complained, there was bad press. Microsoft added intellimenus, task pane - acknowledged mistake. Then ribbon. It could work for new users. Not for me. Now I better understand why. The menu / toolbar / shortcut UI provides progression - from least often to muscle memory. Menu is hidden, fallback, toolbar provides customization, no need File > Save or Edit / Clipboard once I know shortcuts. Ribbon is always expanded menu represented like task pane. They display text when icon is not enough. And group name ... because something. Information density is extremely low. Actual toolbar moved on the title bar. Layout demo looks good. But as writer tool it is awful, clutter is still here, just behind a tab. Could be fixed with Firefox-like customization menu, not with their spaceship like-control. I can see how he applied design tenets but in very specific meaning: * a person's focus should be on their content - constantly changing UI, "content" is styling * reduce the number of choices - no way to customize toolbar, select one of the tabs * increase efficiency - of those who struggle with discoverability * embrace consistency - among office, not OS * give features a permanent home - even universally known * straightforward is better than clever - no hidden controls, more visual clutter * design tenets has to be religion - stick to decision, do not listen to users Same tenets produce my layout, which is opposite. [1] https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/MIX/MIX08/UX09 [2] http://sergeykish.com/side-by-side-no-decorations.png |
