Friday, July 07, 2006
Take a Peek at PowerPoint 2007 UI
When I said "Wow!" about the new user interface (UI) for PowerPoint, I am talking about ribbons. And by ribbons, here is what I mean:
The above is a screen shot of what I encountered when I first opened up the PowerPoint Beta last Friday. "The ribbon" takes up a ton of valuable screen real estate at the top and I am not sure that I like that....but....
MS claims that its usability studies show that this new ribbon approach will make PowerPoint (and other Office Suite programs) easier to use. The previous interface has a menu and toolbar system that Impress and others have "knocked-off", largely because everyone seems to be familiar with them.
But of course, experienced users are accustomed to the old approach. Will the new interface really make experienced users more productive?
I don't mind falling into the "trough of despair" part of the learning curve -- where productivity declines in the beginning -- if I feel confident that my long-term productivity will shoot through the moon after giving the new approach a decent chance. And it is quite possible that the new interface will give novice users a big productivity boost.
But it would be great if us old-timers had the option of selecting "Classic Interface" to aid us through the change...but I don't see that option. Instead, the "PowerPoint Help" section introduces the new interface in a section called "Reference: Locations of PowerPoint 2003 commands in PowerPoint 2007". This is a helpful guide that explains the major UI differences, and got me pointed in the right direction. Highly recommended reading!
Now, will the new UI really make me more productive in the long term?
Where's the guarantee? I would love to see some sort of guarantee from MS -- something like, "We're so confident that MS Office Suite 2003 users will more than triple their productivity when they upgrade to 2007, that MS will give you TRIPLE your money back if you don't see a measureable difference in productivity within one year after you upgrade."
Or something like that.
Anybody know what MS guarantees in productivity gains with the new upgrade?
;) ¶ 7/07/2006 03:48:00 PM
When I said "Wow!" about the new user interface (UI) for PowerPoint, I am talking about ribbons. And by ribbons, here is what I mean:
The above is a screen shot of what I encountered when I first opened up the PowerPoint Beta last Friday. "The ribbon" takes up a ton of valuable screen real estate at the top and I am not sure that I like that....but....MS claims that its usability studies show that this new ribbon approach will make PowerPoint (and other Office Suite programs) easier to use. The previous interface has a menu and toolbar system that Impress and others have "knocked-off", largely because everyone seems to be familiar with them.
But of course, experienced users are accustomed to the old approach. Will the new interface really make experienced users more productive?
I don't mind falling into the "trough of despair" part of the learning curve -- where productivity declines in the beginning -- if I feel confident that my long-term productivity will shoot through the moon after giving the new approach a decent chance. And it is quite possible that the new interface will give novice users a big productivity boost.
But it would be great if us old-timers had the option of selecting "Classic Interface" to aid us through the change...but I don't see that option. Instead, the "PowerPoint Help" section introduces the new interface in a section called "Reference: Locations of PowerPoint 2003 commands in PowerPoint 2007". This is a helpful guide that explains the major UI differences, and got me pointed in the right direction. Highly recommended reading!
Now, will the new UI really make me more productive in the long term?
Where's the guarantee? I would love to see some sort of guarantee from MS -- something like, "We're so confident that MS Office Suite 2003 users will more than triple their productivity when they upgrade to 2007, that MS will give you TRIPLE your money back if you don't see a measureable difference in productivity within one year after you upgrade."
Or something like that.
Anybody know what MS guarantees in productivity gains with the new upgrade?
;) ¶ 7/07/2006 03:48:00 PM
