New menu/ribbon UI recommendations
s roberts
Firefox. The change is welcome in that it will add ease UI by
increasing consistency for the user. Some suggestions though (based on
personal experience architecting windowing products in the early 80's,
and MS latest debacle as well Apple's own problem with iPhone UI)
- ensure consistency of icons/options. This includes position and
function. May require a architecture guide (or rule) that will be used
for addons as well
- ensure consistency of navigation. One of MS's problems is that their
menu navigation broke a long standing rule that menus should use the
first letter of the option unless taken - then the second letter of
first letter of second word etc. This way, a expert user, not using a
mouse (and there are lot out there) would not have to memorize the
options but would rather, play them in their head as they are using
using them. MS probably thought they need to use something different
than the old 2003 fast paths (so they could use both), but as result,
made it all the more complex for everyone with different results being
produced depending on which mindset you were operating under (2003 vs
2007)
- ensure consistency in level organization. one rule of UI is that
once too much information is presented (i.e. too many documents on
desktop, options in menus, facts in documents), the user will want to
organize them into groups and hierarchies. This is even true of the
the most inept users (i.e. think recipes kept by your mom, or tools
maintained by your dad). once in heirarchies, be sure there is some
consistency across the method of grouping and access in the different
groups. MS also botched this in their Office Ribbon
- Screen Space (i.e. real estate) is precious. With the advent of
widescreen, less data is viewable top/down vs left right. The Office
Ribbon takes up a lot of space when it comes on. Even though MS and
others are claiming they are shipping with the menus turned off - the
navigation of the menu forces it on which takes up a lot of the
precious top/down real estate. consider allowing the menu to
positioned on the left side.
Don't get lulled into the lack of complaints by users about Ribbon.
Many (based on experience suypporting them) have given up on trying to
get MS to change and have gone along for the ride. The ones that don't
like the changes (see above) still do not like it and have found that
they have lost a bit of productivity as a result.
If you are to change, don't just copy - make it better
Mike Beltzner
The articles in the press have drastically overstated things. No
proposal has yet added an Office like Ribbon menu structure, through
it was cited as one way that modern Windows applications have used en
lieu of a Menu Bar.
cheers,
mike
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David McRitchie
> Don't get lulled into the lack of complaints by users about Ribbon.
> get MS to change and have gone along for the ride. The ones that don't
> like the changes (see above) still do not like it and have found that
> they have lost a bit of productivity as a result.
After two years of trying to use the Microsoft Office Ribbon, it is still
impossible. I now only use Excel when I have to. Put
another way I don't need it for work (retired) and it is no longer fun. The
only good that came out of the Ribbon was that it is so bad Microsoft had
to improve the context menus. I think context menus are the next target
to be destroyed. Without the keyboard shortcuts and
context menus Excel would be useless, except to those that don't really
use many features. And aiming at those that don't know how to use
Firefox is exactly what is wrong with the current direction Firefox. Better
to teach people how to use Firefox than to destroy it. for everyone.
--
HTH,
David McRitchie, extensions I use are briefly documented on my site
Firefox Custom: http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/firefox/firefox.htm