[OT] Microsoft Office's New UI Blazes Some New Trails for Us

[Scott Rossi]

Recently, jbv  wrote:

> Here's a quote from J. Nielsen's article (BTW the link you provide
> on your blog is wrong) :
> "The new interface displays galleries of possible end-states, each of which
> combine many
> formatting operations. From this gallery, you select the complete look of your
> target -- say
> an org chart or an entire document -- and watch it change shape as you mouse
> over the
> alternatives in the gallery. The interaction paradigm has been reversed; it's
> now What You
> Get Is What You See, or WYGIWYS."
> 
> and my first reaction to this is : God ! this is one of most scary
> things I ever came across !
> It might not be so important in case of a letter or a spreadsheet,
> but in general it means that users we'll have to chose from a set
> of PRE-DEFINED shapes... and who will pre-design those ?
> Microsoft ? Yikes !!!!
> Now we have WYGIWWAYTCF (what you get is what we allow
> you to choose from)...

I believe the point of the article is that, according to user testing, the
majority of people prefer to edit an existing layout, rather than creating
one from scratch.  Yes, MS is providing a set of layouts/templates for you
to choose from.  Nowhere does it say anything about eliminating your ability
to create from scratch if you wish.

You may also want to read the MS link cited.

Regards,

Scott Rossi
Creative Director
Tactile Media, Multimedia & Design
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