Date: prev next · Thread: first prev next last
2011 Archives by date, by thread · List index


2011/6/19 Bernhard Dippold <bernhard@familie-dippold.at>:
*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 design+help@global.libreoffice.org
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

Context


Privacy Policy | Impressum (Legal Info) | Copyright information: Unless otherwise specified, all text and images on this website are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License. This does not include the source code of LibreOffice, which is licensed under the Mozilla Public License (MPLv2). "LibreOffice" and "The Document Foundation" are registered trademarks of their corresponding registered owners or are in actual use as trademarks in one or more countries. Their respective logos and icons are also subject to international copyright laws. Use thereof is explained in our trademark policy.