2011/6/19 Bernhard Dippold <[email protected]>: >> *The Goals:* >> >> - *Make LibreOffice easy to use while retaining its power.* > > I don't know if it is reasonable to have these two topics linked together so > tigthly. > > Ease of use is of course one of the most important goals. > > But it relates reciprocally to the complexity of the task. > > If we come to a point where these two goals (ease of use and powerful > feature-richness) are so oppositional that we had to reduce the importance of > one in favour of the other, which one would be supported?
Features! We cannot lost already existing features just because a redesigned UI. >> This is by >> far one of the biggest complaints I have when I suggest that my clients >> use >> LibreOffice - they don't understand where things are in the >> menu/toolbar hierarchy. [...] > > I would not introduce details in this phase of the discussion, because they > might > lead to a narrowed view on the topic. > > Ease of use is far more than toolbars/menus: numbers of mouse clicks, mouse > distances, tastature access/accessibility come to my mind - and there are even > more like colors and contrast, positioning of objects and so on: > > Nearly every modification to the UI has an impact in this field. Agree >> - *Lead current trends in technology, don't just follow.* [...] >> Instead of copying another office suite, let's >> pave the way for others to build on. > > While I fully support the second part of the statement, I don't want to have > the > first one as part of our main goals. > > I want to see LibreOffice having the *best* UI, not the newest or trendiest > one. +1000 > There are parts in other UIs being very interesting and clever. We can > include > them (if legally possible) in our general concept, if they fit well. > > If LibreOffice will be a trendsetter or not depends on the fact if we find > *better* > solutions than all the other designer out there (or if we manage to include > them > more consistently in our product). > > So just following others is as wrong as setting trends in technology while > other > existing ideas manage to fulfill the necessary task much better... Fully agree with that > >> - *Help people to be more efficient.* This is really important if we >> want to get LibreOffice used in more businesses and schools, and is >> ultimately the best way to get any piece of software adopted. > > This is tightly related to "ease of use", so I'd combine these two goals. > > What I'd like to add as goals: > > - * Interoperability on different platforms.* > LibreOffice wants to be present in a similar way on all the major platforms. > Even if user switch from one platform to another, they should be able to work > the way they are used to. A major task will be definition of fixed (platform > independent) and OS-adapted (platform specific) parts in the UI in order to > find a common way that provides LibreOffice's branding and behavior at the > same time as smooth integration in the platform (with UI elements, behavior > etc) +1000 > - *Don't forget actual users for possible future ones.* > Microsoft lost milions of users (to OOo/LibreOffice and others) because they > didn't take into account, that people tend to keep the Ui they are used to. > Even with a totally new approach we should be able to find the tasks in a > similar way to the old one. > > - *Let people have fun.* > Working with LibreOffice should provide positive feelings - have a look at the > slogan we positioned on the website: > > "Make it just work, and look great, too!" Great points! -- Unsubscribe instructions: E-mail to [email protected] Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/design/ All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted
