Getting your ribbons in a twist
August 13th, 2009
The Renaissance Project – Create a User Interface so that OpenOffice.org becomes the users’ choice not only out of need but also out of desire” – was proposed at the OpenOffice.org Conference in Beijing last year and launched officially in November. It’s been busy at work ever since, and not really attracting a huge focus in the media until someone commented that part of the new UI in the prototype reminded them of Microsoft’s “Ribbon” … and then suddenly the world woke up.
I think this is a bit unfair on the Renaissance team. They actually set
out with a clean sheet following a clear roadmap
- During Q4 08 – Q1 09 they conducted research about how people use OOo, through surveys and actual usage tracking, analysing huge volumes of data
- In Q2 09 they posted a general call for design ideas and collected 17 proposals and 145 design mock-ups
- By the end of Q2 these ideas were starting to coalesce into design prototypes.
- During Q3 the prototypes for Impress were released to generate feedback.
And yes, one of the elements of the new design was a new toolbar, which reminded people of the Microsoft Ribbon. Not really surprising, in that using tabs like this is pretty common in UIs – e.g. on websites. There were other ideas which were equally striking, but which didn’t attract the same level of comment – live previews, the drag and drop feature in the sorter view, a 3D view (I’d love this on my Eee PC 
) etc.
So, the project continues while the buzz subsides. The prototypes will be formally tested with real users, and refined; the team will analyse the feedback from people who have used the prototypes; other prototypes may be built. At some stage, the research will tell the Renaissance folk they have hit gold, and then the work of transferring this work into OpenOffice.org will begin.
It’s all very open, very interactive, with an enthusiastic project team. It will be fascinating to see what emerges.
August 13th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate what the Renaissance Project has produced thus far. I have been watching the project since it has started, and observing the data.
Given that the prototype has brought a reaction, I think, is a good thing. But the discontent over the design is not to be ignored… I think this much is clear, with the data that OO.o has on hand there should be room to create something that is similar to what we have in other software but that doesn’t approach the dissidence that happened with Microsoft Office 2007 (The Ribbon interface with something of an hit or miss among users… Some love it, other {which is where I sit on the debate} really dislike it).
I am have said, on record, that the interface reminds me of MS’s Ribbons… but I think that given that we are still in the prototype phase, changes can be made so that the familiarity between the two is 1) less obvious (or non-existent, since I don’t think that given everything, going down the Ribbon-like road will serve OO.o well) and 2) delivers more to the user. I would rather like to see if there are more prototypes to be had…. to see if any other thoughts are rolling among the UI team.