Hi Jenni, It is certainly an interesting question. I am using Office 2007, but not Vista, which is just the way I like it.
The move from [long, textual, multi-level menus with auto-hiding and cryptic icon-only toolbars] to a [tabbed arrangement of combinations of icons with text, and one level deep sub-sections, optimized around common actions] seems like a clear step toward making complex applications more usable to novice or irregular users. The toolbars were an advanced user feature, which supported very rapid activation - IF you could remember what the icon meant, and you could click the small button, and the function you wanted was there to begin with. I've often spend long periods of time (in old menu-style apps) trying to find features in menus that I knew must be there, but with several levels of embedding, and no graphical cues they can be very hard to find and remember the location of. So, in some cases the new ribbon will be slower (particular for transitioning users struggling to find the location of features they are used to using). However I think it represents a better balance between novice and advanced functions. I'm not exactly sure which "vista menus" you're referring to, but textual menus will always suffer from the usual problems of not explaining their content well, little graphical guidance, and the potential of multiple levels increasing cognitive load for the user (which is why the Start menu is so poorly designed). Also, I think any Fitt's law gains that would have been gained by not using the ribbon will be lost due to the slow response times of Vista. =) -Jeff On Dec 11, 2007 10:50 AM, Jerome Ryckborst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Thanks, Jennifer, and hello, all; I've just joined your list. > > I'm wondering if the ribbon is a solution for a large (overly complex) set > of features where the speed of user performance is not a primary design > driver? > > Also, I don't yet have Vista installed on my computer, so I confess I'm > not really sure what my Dev team (which is 16 hours ahead in Australia; I'm > in Canada) means when they say "Vista menus" -- is this just a menu bar? > > My original question: > > One of my design teams is asking me: "Should we follow > the Office standard of the ribbon, the Vista standard of > the drop-down menu (menu bar), or a hybrid of the two? > > Wow, just what I always wanted: a vague question about > standards that has no right answer and huge consequences. > > -=- Jerome > > -----Original Message----- > From: Jenni Merrifield > Sent: Tuesday, December 11, 2007 9:30 AM > Cc: Jerome Ryckborst > Subject: Office or Vista - That is the Question > > Yesterday, the following message came in on a local, but low bandwidth, UE > list I'm on: > > One of my design teams is asking me: "Should we follow > the Office standard of the ribbon, the Vista standard of > the drop-down menu (menu bar), or a hybrid of the two? > > Wow, just what I always wanted: a vague question about > standards that has no right answer and huge consequences. > > I thought the question might get more traction here, seeing as the IxDA > list has a much larger membership. I've CC'd Jerome, the original poster, > who you might want to include on any replies as I don't know if he's on this > list. > > :-j(enni) > > ________________________________________________________________ > *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah* > February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA > Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/ > > ________________________________________________________________ > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe > List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines > List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help > -- Thanks, Jeff ________________________________________________________________________________ Jeff Axup, Ph.D. Principal Consultant, Mobile Community Design Consulting, San Diego Research: Mobile Group Research Methods, Social Networks, Group Usability E-mail: axup <at> userdesign.com Blog: http://mobilecommunitydesign.com Moblog: http://memeaddict.blogspot.com "Designers mine the raw bits of tomorrow. They shape them for the present day." - Bruce Sterling ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah* February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/ ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
