Julie Larsen-Green to work on the UI for Windows7

Well, MS did not withdraw the statement concerning Windows 7 release being based around a 2010 timeframe, so I'm surprised ... :O

In addition to that, folk are talking about a revamp of the UI, since MS have put the excellent Julie Larsen-Green on the project (she's responsible for the new UI in Office 2007)

http://apcmag.com/6741/new_ui_for_windows_7

Was she behind Office 2007's UI concept?

In which case, great!

Was she behind Office 2007's UI implementation?

In which case, "boo! hiss!"

W3bbo wrote:

Was she behind Office 2007's UI implementation?

In which case, "boo! hiss!"

Your reasons for this?

Sven Groot wrote:



W3bbo wrote: Was she behind Office 2007's UI implementation? In which case, "boo! hiss!"

Your reasons for this?

Office 2007's ribbon implementation, IMO, is lacking and the hodge-podge in Outlook 2007 doesn't "feel right" (because practically everything in the UI is clickable)

My #1 gripe is that Office no longer respects system color settings. Practically all of the graphics that make up the Office UI could be procedurally generated. Windows Media Player does it fine (as it has done since v9), why not Office (which has a much higher budget and team)

I'm also not a fan of the delays coded into the UI (just like Windows). It doesn't feel as responsive as earlier releases. I'm tempted to believe this is a conspiracy so in Office 2009 they remove the delays and say they sped the program up and use it as a marketable selling point.

End-user customizable ribbons and a flipping Search box would help too (Long Zheng covered it a while back). It's what the ribbon UI doesn't do that irks me.

Also, the quick-access toolbar feels like a huge kludge to me. If the ribbon (as it stands) is perfect, then it's unnecessary.

Finally, they could have easily added a UI similar to Office 2003s. ISVs have been able to, why couldn't Microsoft?

I just see it as a great step forward in usability.

I'll be hard pressed to give the team a hard time for that superb product.

I do agree that consistency is important. That's why I abandoned Swing and moved to SWT when working with Java. I really dislike UX islands.

On the other hand, several new Microsoft app's now feature color schemes. That's another thing and a good thing.

And while Office feels very different from other app's in UX, it does so in a great way. It doesn't "alienate" me.

So I'm not going to nitpick it...

esoteric wrote:

So I'm not going to nitpick it...

I think I would die of shock if MS ever released a product that W3bbo couldn't criticize. Even if it's perfect in every way that matters, he'll always find something to whine about.

If it feels like W3bbo is reaching with his criticisms (which he obviously is with Office 2007), it's a good sign for the product. I mean, if the worst thing people can come up with is "the shade of blue isn't quite right", your product is in good shape, isn't it?

I will have to install O2007 to see what the hub-bub is all about... That & because I can't open Excel 'cuz it keeps asking me for the installation disk, and I'm too lazy to look.

Oh, & I call it W3bbo's contrarian-distortion-field

Sven Groot wrote:



esoteric wrote: So I'm not going to nitpick it...

I think I would die of shock if MS ever released a product that W3bbo couldn't criticize. Even if it's perfect in every way that matters, he'll always find something to whine about.

If it feels like W3bbo is reaching with his criticisms (which he obviously is with Office 2007), it's a good sign for the product. I mean, if the worst thing people can come up with is "the shade of blue isn't quite right", your product is in good shape, isn't it?

The product itself is fine but the UI really is abhorrent. I agree with a lot of what W3bbo said. Microsoft gave us that "fresh new look in XP" - which lets face it looks like something straight out of fisher price. Windows classic for me any day. But at least with Office 2000/XP/2003 they would respect system colours.

Then Vista came out with see-through windows - which in reality are no good to man or beast. I can change the UI in the Vista OS to classic. Looks better now. If I had Office 2003 on my Vista machine I'm sure it would respect my system colours. As it happens I've got Office 2007 and it doesn't. 

At the end of the day there's nothing wrong with wanting a bit of uniformity in your UI - something that Office 2007 doesn't give you. It's not going to stop me using it. I'd be a bit stupid if I stopped using a product just because of how it looks, but it does look a bit two-bob to me.

I hope Office 2008 for Mac isn't going to be the same.

How can a UI be abhorrent when so much of it is customizable? 

I'm well confused with some of the arguments going round here.. are there two major versions of Office 2007 going around?

There's always going to be die-hard nay-sayers.

There's something called nostalgia and habbit. I'm sure out there, there are people who are die-hard Windows 3.11 fans.

Customization is the way forward, agreed.

there needs to be a stop gap - rush to market (sp1) new theme for Vista - that is blue or bright that you can work in along side the blue office.

just like office has black theme - Vista needs the office blue theme

please dont make us wait 3 years for this

Who in the bloody bluest blazes of hell is Julie Larson-Green?  Charles we need an interview with this lady immediately.

I remember at least one interview based on the new Office, with a female. It might not've been her, though.

rjdohnert wrote:

Charles we need an interview with this lady immediately.

This is a very good idea. She should be able to provide some valuable insights in UI design.

Welcome to last month, guys.

http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=319241

It doesn't sound like she was actually technically responsible for the user interface so much as she managed the team that was responsible.

You may also want to look up Jensen Harris (http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/) for more details on the Office 2007 user interface and why it is the way it is.

JChung2006 wrote:

Uhh guys?

http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=319241

How the hell did I miss that? And why did it not turn up when I searched the videos forum for her name?

Anyway, thanks! Should be a great view.