Office 2007 William Tschumy User Experience Evangelist, Western Region February 19 th , 2007 User Research at Microsoft:

The “Ribbon” UX of Office 2007

Task Driven: Each application has been broken down into its key high-level tasks Word: File, Save, Insert, Page Layout, References, Mailings, Review Excel: Sheet, Insert, Page layout, Formulas, Data, Review PowerPoint: Slides, Insert, Design, Animations, Slide show, Review Discrete: The UI never extends beyond the ribbon Visual : If you don’t see it, the application doesn’t do it So what does the Ribbon do? Tactile: Galleries provide a live preview of the format outcome Contextual: The interface shows only those features that are relevant to the task or relevant to the selection (e.g., Picture Tools when an image is selected) Respectful: of Fitt’s Law. Common formatting tools are available at the point of selection – no mouse travel required

Task Driven: Each application has been broken down into its key high-level tasks

Word: File, Save, Insert, Page Layout, References, Mailings, Review

Excel: Sheet, Insert, Page layout, Formulas, Data, Review

PowerPoint: Slides, Insert, Design, Animations, Slide show, Review

Discrete: The UI never extends beyond the ribbon

Visual : If you don’t see it, the application doesn’t do it

Tactile: Galleries provide a live preview of the format outcome

Contextual: The interface shows only those features that are relevant to the task or relevant to the selection (e.g., Picture Tools when an image is selected)

Respectful: of Fitt’s Law. Common formatting tools are available at the point of selection – no mouse travel required

How did we get here?

In the beginning…

Adaptive Menus: Office 2000

Adaptive Menus: Office 2000

Where did all that get us?

The customer speaks… “ I’m sure there’s a way to do this, but I can’t figure out how” “ Office is quite complex, I would be better at my job if I knew how to use it more.” Of the top 10 feature requests, 5 had been in Office for more than a release

“ I’m sure there’s a way to do this, but I can’t figure out how”

“ Office is quite complex, I would be better at my job if I knew how to use it more.”

Of the top 10 feature requests, 5 had been in Office for more than a release

So how did we get from… to…

Great UX comes from great user insight

Show me the data Our Customer Experience Improvement Program was an invaluable resource to see how users use our tool How often was a toolbar button clicked? Where was it in sequence? 1.3 Billion sessions of data was analyzed ~6,000 datapoints were analyzed 1.8 Million sessions per day The data allows us to understand how features chain together to satisfy user tasks

Our Customer Experience Improvement Program was an invaluable resource to see how users use our tool

How often was a toolbar button clicked? Where was it in sequence?

1.3 Billion sessions of data was analyzed

~6,000 datapoints were analyzed

1.8 Million sessions per day

The data allows us to understand how features chain together to satisfy user tasks

Establish a baseline Over the course of several days, we ran 30+ people through our usability lab to establish: Task success/failure information Time on task Customer satisfaction This would be the baseline against which we’d evaluate the Office 2007 design

Over the course of several days, we ran 30+ people through our usability lab to establish:

Task success/failure information

Time on task

Customer satisfaction

This would be the baseline against which we’d evaluate the Office 2007 design

Paper Prototypes: Value and Speed We prototyped from the earliest design stages: In order to speed the cycle time, we used a lot of paper prototyping to quickly vet possible designs Usability subjects used a pencil to "click" the paper prototype Whomever ran the test sat at the table with the subject and made the prototype ‘work’ (shuffles the paper) New designs can be tested on the fly by drawing new screens

We prototyped from the earliest design stages:

In order to speed the cycle time, we used a lot of paper prototyping to quickly vet possible designs

Usability subjects used a pencil to "click" the paper prototype

Whomever ran the test sat at the table with the subject and made the prototype ‘work’ (shuffles the paper)

New designs can be tested on the fly by drawing new screens

Eye tracking helped us understand how users visually parsed data: As we understood how people use and browse the visuals, we could then refine and study the next revision of visuals We focused on how people use the chunk titles, the contextual tabs, and the MiniBar. Eye tracking

Eye tracking helped us understand how users visually parsed data:

As we understood how people use and browse the visuals, we could then refine and study the next revision of visuals

We focused on how people use the chunk titles, the contextual tabs, and the MiniBar.

Card sorting gave us IA clues: In late 2004, we had people organize commands into buckets to help us think about how to generate the tabs. In late 2005, we gave them our buckets and assessed how well they sorted the commands, especially while coming up with names for some really sticky ones. Card sort helps refine usage data

Card sorting gave us IA clues:

In late 2004, we had people organize commands into buckets to help us think about how to generate the tabs.

In late 2005, we gave them our buckets and assessed how well they sorted the commands, especially while coming up with names for some really sticky ones.

Internal Longitudinal Studies We want to avoid backward steps: Non-product groups installed and used builds, Beta 1, Beta 2, etc… These groups provided feedback as well as participated in the Office 2003 and Office 2007 Benchmarks for comparison

We want to avoid backward steps:

Non-product groups installed and used builds, Beta 1, Beta 2, etc…

These groups provided feedback as well as participated in the Office 2003 and Office 2007 Benchmarks for comparison

“ The Truman Show” Watching real people: We convinced some ‘real’ people to replace Office 2000 with Office 12 ... And allow us to do site visits ... and work here on campus for a while ... and have conferences via Live Meeting with us ... and let us analyze his personal instrumentation data ... and send us a daily journal of his experience. He's a local guy with a small personal business and excited about this challenge. As are we.

Watching real people:

We convinced some ‘real’ people to replace Office 2000 with Office 12

... And allow us to do site visits

... and work here on campus for a while

... and have conferences via Live Meeting with us

... and let us analyze his personal instrumentation data

... and send us a daily journal of his experience. He's a local guy with a small personal business and excited about this challenge. As are we.

Another Longitudinal Test Pulling more people into the test: For more than a year, we worked with a large group of users from a local company. We rolled out Beta 1 to RTM This was a great opportunity to closely monitor the rollout, training, adoption, and acceptance of the new UI over a long period of time. We did persistent visits, monitored instrumentation data, and collected 1/1 feedback.

Pulling more people into the test:

For more than a year, we worked with a large group of users from a local company.

We rolled out Beta 1 to RTM

This was a great opportunity to closely monitor the rollout, training, adoption, and acceptance of the new UI over a long period of time.

We did persistent visits, monitored instrumentation data, and collected 1/1 feedback.

And everything else… Throughout the extended Beta we: Built up the list of instrumentation metrics Conducted 3rd party validation studies Continued "Send a Smile" tracking Continued consolidation of usability findings from Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access, … And oh so much more

Throughout the extended Beta we:

Built up the list of instrumentation metrics

Conducted 3rd party validation studies

Continued "Send a Smile" tracking

Continued consolidation of usability findings from Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access,

… And oh so much more

Questions?

Thank You! William Tschumy User Experience Evangelist, Western Region 415.420.3746 [email_address] jensen harris parimal deshpande