I want to respectfully challenge some of the statements and characterizations I've been reading.
We have some PowerPoint plugin apps that insert into the 2007 ribbon. All our PPT 2007 customers hate the ribbon with a passion. They all say the exact same thing, they can't find anything. The PPT 2003 customers never call customer service on this issue. Isn't that odd? Microsoft's research has not exactly been on point on a lot of things these days, IMO. I also noticed in another thread, Scott Barnes noting Microsoft's efforts in h.264 standards. Remember HD-DVD versus Blu-ray? That was VC-1 versus h.264. Silverlight is now going to support h.264 in the future. Market demanded support is technically support, yes. But the adoption of h.264 over VC-1 was clearly not intended or desired by Microsoft. Mentioning IE and standards compliance is quite lively in the webmaster groups. Not in a good way. More importantly, I have a concern. There is plenty of room in RIA and Microsoft-oriented forums and groups to make their case. I'm even fine with some open debate in Flexcoders. What I don't want to see is Microsoft's Rich Platforms Product Manager, let alone other Microsofties, spamming our Flex group with spin on thread after thread after thread. I'm not saying we are there, I'm saying I'm concerned about it. Just reading the language, the last couple of posts are certainly exploring that territory. I think there are more appropriate venues for that than Flexcoders. ________________________________ From: Scott Barnes <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Monday, March 30, 2009 7:56:32 PM Subject: Re: [flexcoders] Re: Ribbon in FLEX Eye of the beholder and all..Our research tells us were on point with the end users so far. I'd be curious to listen to some of your own thoughts on where it could be improved, albiet removed and replaced with a better solution? (little-r me so not to interrupt the thread flow). There's many approaches one can take in progressive disclosure, at the end of the day it's one of many patterns one can adopt. In the case presented below, I specificed that should you do opt for the Office Ribbon UI, one should consider the merits of what problems it's solving. It really comes back to your targeted end user, what problems you're looking to solve and how much time and money you're willing to invest in the overall experience. You have a lot of lego pieces in todays RIAs, it's still up to you to assemble and produce a solution that adheres to whatever design principals you feel end users can cope with. On Mon, Mar 30, 2009 at 4:40 PM, Bjorn Schultheiss <[email protected]> wrote: Good point, Its difficult in an application with so many functions though. Take CS4, the tools panel in Photoshop seems to work for trained designers, but when it got introduced into Flash CS4 with the collapsed panels, its difficult to know which icon to click when they're not all familiar. Personally i dont think most web applications should borrow their design from MS Office. Although the UI may be familiar to the user base, a web application can usually be made more simple by restricting functionality related to the task at hand. eg, thermo's HUD. Mobile UX designers seem to do a good job at this. Take the IPhone. I prefer less obvious, more intuitive controls over a cluttered workspace any day. --- In [email protected], Gleb Dolgich <gleb...@...> wrote: > > Ribbon is not a good UI, IMHO. It comes from Microsoft's idea that > every command must have a corresponding icon, which in the past made > for some of the most cluttered UIs out there. It's really hard to find > what you need in the new Office ribbons, and I would think twice > before following this trend. If you feel you need a ribbon in your > application, maybe it's time to rethink your UI. > > -- > Gleb Dolgich > Twitter: @gbd > Web: http://www.pixelespressoapps.com > > On 30 Mar 2009, at 20:41, Scott Barnes wrote: > > > Just a note. The true power of Ribbon isn't necessarily just a tab/ > > hbox navigation, it's also about context in that the navigation > > reacts to elements you may have with your application. Thus > > producing contextual sensitive "additional" menu items where the end > > user invokes sensitive areas. > > > > > > > > > > > > On Fri, Mar 13, 2009 at 1:11 AM, Thibaud Van Vreckem <thibaudm...@... > > > wrote: > > > > I know I could do it using tabs and panels, but an existing FLEX > > version could save me a lot of time. > > > > that ribbon design is a perfect example of what flex shines for. > > it's nothing more than tabs and canvas/Hbox panels. that's probably > > about 5 sec setup. > > I'm not sure I understand what you would you need a component for .. > > > > On Fri, Mar 13, 2009 at 9:29 AM, Claudio M. E. Bastos Iorio<selecter...@... > > > wrote: > > > > Thanks for your answer and links. > > > > The silverlight version looks really great. Check this online demo > > (silverlight > > required):http://silverlight.services.live.com/invoke/60108/SilverlightRibbon/iframe.html > > > > > > I�m not trying to copy exactly the ribbon. Just the concept. > > > > I know I could do it using tabs and panels, but an existing FLEX > > version could save me a lot of time. > > > > If I don�t find any FLEX version, the silverlight version will help > > me a lot, thanks. > > > > I wish I could use silverlight + .NET, but this is an AIR project L > > > > > > > > ______________________________ > > > > Claudio M. E. Bastos Iorio > > > > > > > > From: [email protected][mailto:[email protected]] > > On Behalf Of Sam Lai > > Sent: Friday, March 13, 2009 3:53 AM > > To: [email protected] > > Subject: Re: [flexcoders] Ribbon in FLEX > > > > > > http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/products/HA101679411033.aspx?pid=CL100796341033#2 > > > > Kind of like the toolbar for picking controls in Adobe Dreamweaver > > (unless they've changed it in recent versions). > > > > Unfortunately I haven't heard of any Flash implementations, only > > Silverlight implementations. You could implement it yourself using a > > TabNavigator and Panel controls inside each tab for groups, and > > buttons inside them. It's the styling that will be a pain - the > > official specs are available from Microsoft for free though, with some > > conditions attached > > (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-au/office/aa973809.aspx). You could also > > use the images and even code if you know XAML from the Silverlight > > version - http://silverlightribbon.codeplex.com/ > > > > Personally I'd be making my own interpretation of the ribbon control > > instead of following the Microsoft version to the dot, especially > > seeing as they have changed a few bits in Windows 7 which will > > probably filter down to Office in Office 2010 (e.g. the confusion with > > the File menu - the Orb in the top corner is now gone). > > > > 2009/3/13 Tracy Spratt <tspr...@...>: > > > I am not familiar with that control, can you describe it? > > > > > > > > > > > > Tracy Spratt, > > > > > > Lariat Services, development services available > > > > > > ________________________________ > > > > > > From: > > [email protected][mailto:[email protected]] On > > > Behalf Of Claudio M. E. Bastos Iorio > > > Sent: Friday, March 13, 2009 2:13 AM > > > To: [email protected] > > > Subject: [flexcoders] Ribbon in FLEX > > > > > > > > > > > > Hi, > > > > > > Is there any component (free or paid) similar to the office 2007 > > ribbon > > > control? > > > > > > > > > > > > TIA > > > > > > > > > > > > ______________________________ > > > > > > Claudio M. E. Bastos Iorio > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > Regards, > > > > Scott Barnes > > Rich Platforms Product Manager > > Microsoft. > > > > http://blogs.msdn.com/msmossyblog > > > > > > > -- Regards, Scott Barnes Rich Platforms Product Manager Microsoft. http://blogs.msdn.com/msmossyblog
