Microsoft introduces New Office icons

[Trik'Stari]

12 hours ago, GoodBytes said:

I think you have it on reverse. You now have options easily accessible, while before you had to dig through menus and sub menus, with little 16x16 icons that can't describe what each feature means due to their small size. The ribbon bar has been shown to make Office easier to use.

I usually have to dig through menus that don't enact real changes to the OS, in order to find the same windows from Windows 7, that actually do cause changes to happen.

[Dabombinable]

13 minutes ago, Trik'Stari said:

I usually have to dig through menus that don't enact real changes to the OS, in order to find the same windows from Windows 7, that actually do cause changes to happen.

Still don't understand the point of the settings menu, when most of it links back to control panel.

[Doobeedoo]

Well ok and I take it Office 2019 will be the last standalone suite probably. 

[Velcade]

6 minutes ago, Doobeedoo said:

Well ok and I take it Office 2019 will be the last standalone suite probably. 

Makes me sad too.  I have Office on my home PCs but I won't pay the 100 per year subscription fee of Office 365.  I guess I'll have to migrate over to google docs or something.

[The Benjamins]

18 hours ago, Radium_Angel said:

The latest patch for Windows wipes data, corrupts things, and generally makes a hash of your OS, and their solution is to make new icons?

This is called "polishing brass on the Titanic"

 

As great as this sounds, I do NOT want the art team to be coding or debuging my OS. this might be why it is buggy so they should go and redo all their logos.

[MoonSpot]

22 hours ago, Tech_Dreamer said:

Microsoft introduces New Office icons

 

The new ones look worse, and convey less than any of the preceding icons.  How's this sort of regression even possible?  It's not some bug or mistake, someone did this deliberately and dozens of people along the way didn't stop them and say:  "This looks like & is dumb as shit yo."  Or, "What do you have against colour-blind people?"

So a mind boggling regression is about the only way to describe this change at a glace. 

What does several shades of the colour blue have to do with writing/typing documents?  Nothing unless you're older and know that MSWord has always had a blue icon, and excel green, access purple, powerpoint red, etc...

Didn't care for the aesthetic down grade with 2013, but it did what was on the tin and I think we all understood it was to make things easier for mobile in MS efforts for cross platform seamlessness.

 

2007/2010 ftw.  Know the score at a glace, letter in the icon be damned.

 

Quote

refreshing & new. although a bit bold & opaque , it seems light & open & inviting at the same time , What do you guys think of these designs? leave a comment down below.
 

Moonspot translated as "Artsy fartsy blathering blatherskite".  I can appreciate you and others like the look, but I don't see it as doing the job of being an icon well for end users.

[corrado33]

59 minutes ago, MoonSpot said:

The new ones look worse, and convey less than any of the preceding icons.  How's this sort of regression even possible?  It's not some bug or mistake, someone did this deliberately and dozens of people along the way didn't stop them and say:  "This looks like & is dumb as shit yo."  Or, "What do you have against colour-blind people?"

So a mind boggling regression is about the only way to describe this change at a glace. 

What does several shades of the colour blue have to do with writing/typing documents?  Nothing unless you're older and know that MSWord has always had a blue icon, and excel green, access purple, powerpoint red, etc...

Didn't care for the aesthetic down grade with 2013, but it did what was on the tin and I think we all understood it was to make things easier for mobile in MS efforts for cross platform seamlessness.

 

2007/2010 ftw.  Know the score at a glace, letter in the icon be damned.

 

Moonspot translated as "Artsy fartsy blathering blatherskite".  I can appreciate you and others like the look, but I don't see it as doing the job of being an icon well for end users.

Designers: "You know what we need? Let's make the icons look nothing like the task they're supposed to complete."

Other designer: "Then what are we supposed to put behind the letter"

Designers: *Looks to left and right, at color pallets covering the walls* "How about COLOR GRADIENT?" 

All designers: "Perfect"

 

 

[kting15]

I didn't like it at first but after literally 10 seconds of looking at it, it looks fine.

 

People will get annoyed that something has changed and complain. Everyone will eventually get used to it. No one will really care about it in the end (unless they're that against change).

[Castdeath97]

Like the icons .. except the word icon, it's nearly identical to the excel one which doesn't make sense.

[Guest]

On 11/30/2018 at 10:30 AM, captain_to_fire said:

Said by who? Microsoft? 

You need to ask Mr. Clippy.

[TechyBen]

On 11/29/2018 at 9:33 PM, GoodBytes said:

Yes, backed up with their research in GUI design, and working in IT field in the days the ribbon bar was introduced, and being on forums and reading news article on he new version of Office, with people talking about some of the "new" features of Office 2007 that was actually there since 1 and even 2 version prior which confirmed MS research on this.

I'm left handed. Your research group can do whatever they like... It's not gonna happen, I'm not magically gonna be right handed. Same for GUI design. Ribbon = I cannot use it [I'll not go into why right now, buy trust me]. Thanks Microsoft.

[GoodBytes]

Just now, TechyBen said:

I'm left handed. Your research group can do whatever they like... It's not gonna happen, I'm not magically gonna be right handed. Same for GUI design. Ribbon = I cannot use it [I'll not go into why right now, buy trust me]. Thanks Microsoft.

Apologies for my ignorance, I don't see how being left handed changes anything from toolbars and menus. I mean the ribbon bar is customizable, menus aren't.

But all to say, you can't have a perfect software for everyone. That is why we have choices. Use what best suit you best.

 

[DrMacintosh]

Wait, people use Office? 

[TechyBen]

15 hours ago, GoodBytes said:

Apologies for my ignorance, I don't see how being left handed changes anything from toolbars and menus. I mean the ribbon bar is customizable, menus aren't.

But all to say, you can't have a perfect software for everyone. That is why we have choices. Use what best suit you best.

 

You did not think other people are different (a random example, some are left handed). That's the point. I was not making a point on GUIs, I was making a point that we assumed everyone is the same!   I gave an example of a thing (unrelated, but me being left handed) that is exclusively unavoidable.

Quote

Menus aren't

They can be. Many don't implement it, but they can be. Also, I'm not against icon/button/bars. I'm against the functionality of the Ribbon. I've used many GUIs with buttons/text (I use Sketchup daily).

 

You assume I can change how I navigate and use a GUI. It's an assumption. Even if you cannot think of an example of where I cannot change.

 

I'm left handed, which means if no one ever made a left handed [thing] I literally could not use it. When it comes to GUI (nothing to do with left handedness), I am dyslexic, and have some other visual requirements. 99% of GUIs are fine. The ribbon moves too many icons/positions/text systems. The ribbon overlays too many positions/icons/text systems. A drop down list provides a context switch that also changes the spacial/layed system. So 100s of layed drop down menus are fine for me. But 1 Ribbon context switch, and I cannot follow where the buttons/cursor is. So I can visualise it in 3d Space, even if it overlaps in 2d Space. The Ribbon is all 2d space overlayed, so in my memory/visual system, it's all garbage/crossed over/mixed up.

 

I literally do context switching in games all the time... but somehow, the Ribbon fails even to replicate what games do. Games make the menus/buttons all the same size/spacing/layout when you context switch. Or switch entire GUI, so visually you know to reset your positional awareness. The ribbon just fails at GUI design. It might be amazing at ordering the icons, grouping them, but that's a system independent to GUI shape and layout.

 

Icons and drop down menus give a massive amount of GUI freedom. Like, the Ribbon is the only system I cannot visualise logically (remember positions/locations/ordering) *and* cannot visualise spatially.

 

For MS to be the only company to do that to me, is amazing. (I've played games since the late 1980s, used GUIs for decades, and the ribbon is the only one I get a mental/co-ordination block on). XD

 

Actually, I've just remembered another company that does it. Context sensitive 3D CAD software often imitates the MS Ribbon now (and waaaay back, TrueSpace 6 did context swapping icons that defaulted to following the mouse cursor  ). So yeah, those types of GUI are really annoying, because I have to hunt the icon every time, as each selection/position of the cursor might have many many different GUI combinations, instead of sticking to 2 or 3, and just greying out/not allowing the buttons to be pressed.

 

Basically, don't hide the buttons. Keep them where they were.

[Tarzan]

What about Microsoft Project logo? Same as PowerPoint but in green?

 

[GoodBytes]

7 minutes ago, Tarzan said:

What about Microsoft Project logo? Same as PowerPoint but in green?

 

Like Visio and Access, I don't think we know yet. I think the focus right now is to reveal the "core apps" of Office. The stuff used by most. And the others will be released later with their new version when ready.

[captain_to_fire]

On 12/1/2018 at 9:08 AM, DrMacintosh said:

Wait, people use Office? 

A lot. Businesses to students not because it’s the best but because it’s ubiquitous and people pay for it because of compatibility with existing Office users. Sure free options can read and make .pptx, .docx, .xlsx but it might suffer from compatibility issues if it’s opened by programs not Microsoft Office. 

[Dabombinable]

4 minutes ago, captain_to_fire said:

A lot. Businesses to students not because it’s the best but because it’s ubiquitous and people pay for it because of compatibility with existing Office users. Sure free options can read and make .pptx, .docx, .xlsx but it might suffer from compatibility issues if it’s opened by programs not Microsoft Office. 

.pptx, .docx and .xlsx were actually designed around compatibility. So the only issues now are other office suite alternatives lacking features.

[suicidalfranco]

tfw i prefer my cad software at work over word to create text docs.

It's just faster

[MoonSpot]

1 hour ago, GoodBytes said:

the others will be released later with their new version when ready. 

Ready?  You suggesting they're somehow not ready now?  Thats sorta terrifying thinking some organization suffers such extreme inefficiency(or "dog fucking" for those fluent in shop-talk) to bloat and fester in the ranks.  Particularly when they've thrown out soo many testing and validating personnel we sorely miss now.

I'm no graphical design aficionado, but didn't realize I was such an efficientato at it.  5, 10 mins I can install photoshop, load up a basic geometric shape or two(for pizzazz), and hit it with a gradient paint bucket tool too.

 

Holy shit.

...Someones getting paid for doing this.

[NumLock21]

On 11/30/2018 at 2:22 PM, MoonSpot said:

MSWord has always had a blue icon, and excel green, access purple, powerpoint red, etc...

 

 

 

PowerPoint is orange. Access is red. One note is purple.

 

[mynameisjuan]

On 11/30/2018 at 2:18 AM, CommandMan7 said:

Generally everything is gravitating towards blocky flat text with no unnecessary detail or color. I feel like eventually we'll all be living in Pixies Inc. from Fairly Oddparents as shown above right.

 

This really gets me heated for no reason

Minimalistic and metro styles are way better than most overly designed icons or graphic that companies try to pull off. 

[aezakmi]

1 minute ago, mynameisjuan said:

Minimalistic and metro styles are way better than most overly designed icons or graphic that companies try to pull off. 

Word 2003 icon was just a W

[BachChain]

If we extrapolate the trends, by around 2030, they'll have removed the icons entirely.

[mynameisjuan]

14 minutes ago, aezakmi said:

Word 2003 icon was just a W

With shitty grading, framing and ugly ass font.