Re: [libreoffice-design] [UX] - Big Picture [was: LibreOffice Toolbar Usability Interface ...]

Hi,
On Tue, 2011-05-17 at 15:38 +0200, Bernhard Dippold wrote:
> Hi Jared, all,
>
> one of the mails still marked as to-be-replied-to, but never found the
> time - sorry!
>
> Jared Meidal schrieb:
> > Because I like the “big picture” I would like to make some comments
> > to help me, and perhaps others, formulate the trajectory and
> > philosophy for the UX future of LibreOffice. [...]
> >
> > As an open source application, The Document Foundation has the great
> > opportunity before them to show the wise maturity borne in the FLOSS
> > community of how to present accessibility to the user--customized
> > control. [...] To offer innovation within the GUI (emphasis on USER)
> > would be a benefit not simply because everyone else is doing it, but
> > because it fits exactly in-line with the philosophy of free software,
> > if done right.
> >
> > [...] LibreOffice will be successful not because of innovation
> > (dictation) but because of freedom (customization) and user-focused
> > design (as a reminder, users are very diverse).
> >
> > My practical suggestion, is to take the best of tabs, ribbons and
> > docks. Take the finest customization techniques built into
> > LibreOffice and already available in the FLOSS-sphere and pack them
> > into an upgrade of this suite that will offer users what they want,
> > what they need, and what works for them--all at the same time.
> >
> > What this would look like is ever-present, full customization of
> > tool properties: grouping, position, appearance and visibility.  My
> > term for this is “toolgroups.”  This reaches beyond the function of
> > static tools grouped within a ribbon tab.  Rather, this is a
> > user-customized group of tools tagged to appear always, or workspace
> > dependent.  The group can be placed in a sidebar, floating dock or in
> > an inactive tabset (invisible or simply unusable). [...]
>
> I tried to shorten your mail without losing it's main content - I hope I 
> kept the most important information.
>
> During the last months we had a few discussions with developers on 
> customization and options.
>
> While it is reasonable from a user point of view to be given a broad 
> area of modifiable options, this might mean a enormous programming 
> effort for developers, a larger code base, slower execution and more bugs.
>
> Even from UX point of view it might not be as easy as you describe:
> An average user will not change the UI - either he likes it and can work 
> with it or he can't (and stops using the product). That's why the 
> standard configuration is more important in my eyes than any possible 
> customization.
>
> You're right that there are different user groups with different needs 
> that might be addressed with a specialized UI.
>
> But I think providing pre-formatted themes are a better way to go.
>
> And even here the workload for the developers is quite high...
>
> My take is:
>
> What we need is an easy way to create extensions for UI customization.
>
> This way the standard theme can be overridden by an extension with a 
> different theme or with an additional customization tool. Toolbar 
> content, size and positioning, docking and context sensitivity (probably 
> the most problematic part) can be defined there.
>
> But we should keep in mind:
>
> One of the main advantages of LibreOffice is it's platform independency.
> On each of the operating systems People can work with LibreOffice in the 
> same way - mainly because the position of their toolbars, menu entries 
> and buttons are similar among Windows, Linux and Mac OS X.
>
> We definitely should keep this behavior for the standard theme.
>
> Defining this theme will be one of the most important tasks for us 
> during the years to come, and we will have to hear on our user base very 
> closely...
>
> Allowing this configuration will probably cause some developer effort 
> and I don't know if there is already one willing to spend his/her spare 
> time to this task.
>
> But your statement is true:
>
> A more user-oriented UI can be used as marketing tool and promotional 
> item - and it fits very well with the idea of Freedom and Liberty.
>
> Toolbars are already quite configurable - even if most people don't use 
> this feature.
>
>
> Best regards
>
> Bernhard
>
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From what I have seen of most MS Office users is that tool bars are
never customized. Most user, I would say almost all I have met, are not
even aware the tool bars can be customized. I believe there are
customizations available for the ribbon. I agree Bernhard that out of
the box is most important for the typical user. 
-- 
Jay Lozier
jslozier@gmail.com


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