The ribbon gets knocked a lot; but the median word processor user has zero experience. The ribbon gives them a fighting chance to find what they need. At the expense of 'expert users' with their idiomatic expectations.
Which is a problem because tools should be just that - tools. You don't make welders or soldering irons easy for people with zero experience. You make them effective and efficient tools, and then train people to use them. Heck, show me a single musical instrument giving zero-experienced users "a fighting chance to find what they need".
It's weird how new trends in UX design try to make a first-time user become a genius immediately after double-clicking on the program icon. The only way you can do that is by dumbing down the software to the point it can actually be comprehended this way - which makes it much less usable and effective as a tool.
That's the expert talking. The tool is made for the most common case - a new hire meeting it for the first time. They're not gonna do a good job; but anything that can improve their performance, pays. Follow the money.
It's weird how new trends in UX design try to make a first-time user become a genius immediately after double-clicking on the program icon. The only way you can do that is by dumbing down the software to the point it can actually be comprehended this way - which makes it much less usable and effective as a tool.