Re: [libreoffice-design] Question about UI plans

Hi Alex,

I try to answer, although other guys here might have a different
opinion.

Am Samstag, den 16.07.2011, 14:51 +0100 schrieb Alex B:
> I just asked myself, if there are any plans for a new UI?

What is a "new UI"? If it is improvements to the current one, then, yes,
some people are working on that. These changes might lead to something
users might perceive as "new".

If you think about something like "Calligra", "Microsoft Office", ...
then no.

> I saw several really good mockups over the past view months, but i
> found nothing tangible in the wiki.

What is a good mockup? To me, it does not only need to look user
friendly and efficient - it has to prove that for many different use
cases. Since LibreOffice is a very complex piece of software, that's
harder to achieve than users might be aware ... but I consider those
single mockups a great resource for brainstorming - to set the major
goals.

> There are several small proposals and improvements wich could be get
> discarded if a new UI is implemented.

Nope - not from my point-of-view. Two thing we've learned (the hard way)
in Renaissance [1] are:
      * A major UI revamp needs *lots* of resources, so users might wait
        for a looong time until they see any improvement. Small
        improvements help to learn what works (and what not) and to show
        the users that something is goin on.
      * The small improvements are mostly tied to "workflow refinement".
        Thus, they are the basis for an improved interaction concept
        (I'm not only talking about the UI, the visual communication
        layer) - otherwise you'll end up to transform
        inconsistency/redundancy of the today's UI into a new one.

[1] http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Renaissance

> So are there any designers/programmers out there actually working on a new UI?

That's something others need to answer :-) Personally, I'm working on
some small bits and pieces at the moment.

Cheers,
Christoph


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