Can You Handle The Ribbon?

The way in which menus operate in an app is a big deal, because it can mean the difference between loving or hating the app.

Something that has slowly but surely creeping its way into Microsoft applications is the ribbon interface. The difference between a regular toolbar and a ribbon is that a ribbon is a set of toolbars seen as selectable tabs.

If you’re using Windows 7, you can see this interface right now by using Paint. The two tabs you will see in that ribbon interface are Home and View.

In the Windows Live suite of applications, which is what I’m going to talk about here, the only app I know of that has the ribbon currently is Movie Maker. Other apps like Mail, Photo Gallery and Writer do not.

But they will. And soon.

At present, the Windows Live suite of apps is in what’s called Wave 3. Wave 4 should be released by Spring or Summer 2010, with apps that have ribbons aplenty.

What’s my take on the ribbon? I’m actually in favor of it because it allows me to customize in ways I can’t with a standard single-tiered toolbar.

Here’s an example using Paint in Windows 7:

Above: The ribbon allows me to place quick-access icons above or below it.

Above: Right-clicking any function brings up a menu where I can add it as a quick-access icon. If I place the Resize function in the toolbar, this is what happens:

Above: Note the icon at the top. I can now resize any loaded image with one click.

If I want to remove the icon, simply right-click and remove.

It’s functionality like this that I like in my menus for the apps I use. How I wish Windows Internet Explorer 8 had the ability to do this (maybe in IE9?)

When you can customize like this, you can easily tailor your apps to the way you work. Instead of having to remember where certain menu functions are, you can simply quick-access them.

Ultimately this is why I believe the ribbon is the way to go. Once you start using it you realize why it makes sense. Tabbed multi-level menus with quick-access options are so much easier compared to the old File/Edit/View way of doing it.

My only complaint about quick access icons and the ribbon is that I cannot set the order of icons by click/drag/drop like you can with the taskbar in Windows 7 (or shortcut icons in XP’s taskbar). What you have to do is add them in the order you want them to show up. A bit tedious but at least it can be done.

If you want to see another app that uses the ribbon in Windows 7, you can also check out WordPad. The ribbon there has the same ability to be customized that Paint does.

What do you think of the ribbon?

Boom or bust?

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jan
M$ just stole this OLD Idea from Lotus-123 way back in early 80′s. It had a similar interface in DOS !

http://www.menga.net Rich Menga
Even though keystroke interfaces have absolutely nothing to do with the ribbon which is 100% GUI based..
Microsoft had Multiplan in 1982, one year before Lotus 1-2-3 was introduced in 1983. In addition, 1-2-3 very closely followed VisiCalc interface from 1979 while Multiplan didn’t.
And quit with with the “M$” fanboy nonsense. Grow up.

David Kennedy
I still struggle with the ribbon in Office. Not only is it ribbon vs menu, but things are organized/grouped a little different. Then there are the “hidden” options that you have to use the pulldowns for. Takes me forever to find some things.
That being said…I think my problem is having used the menus for approx. 10 years. You know what they say about old habits…

http://www.menga.net Rich Menga
There are quite a few others that feel the exact same way:
http://www.dexodesign.com/2007/08/24/why-microsofts-ribbon-sucks/

http://twitter.com/philmonger Phil M
I was skeptical of the ribbon at first (and in some ways I still am) – but when I go back to Office XP now, it feels like stepping into the dark ages.
Once you’ve learned the ribbon it’s a much better interface.
http://blog.techappetite.com Tech Appetite
I love the ribbon. It is one of the biggest advances in GUI design that Microsoft has ever taken and, despite the criticism it gets, I think it was a good choice to change Win 7′s native Paint, WordPad, etc. apps to use the ribbon, as well as for Office 2007.
But the ribbon does currently have its pitfalls, namely that
it can’t be customized. Items cannot be rearranged or taken off like in classic toolbars. This is a major issue for me as I like to rearrange things to suit my needs and the circumstances of the project, a thing that Adobe has done very well (using custom workspaces).
Andrew K
I too was VERY skeptical of the ribbon. Now I am addicted to it. I HATE going back to old office programs that use the menu. Whenever a coworker is having a problem, or they don’t know how to do something, I always end up just telling them to send me the link so I can work on it from my machine, because the menu isn’t that intuitive, and I can’t remember the old way of doing it.
The ribbon provides the opportunity to learn more functions and features than I would have learned after 10 years using the menu. .
Mark F
I’m not crazy about ribbon interfaces but I use them. It still seems slower to get some things done in Word using the Ribbon, for example.
But I’m not one of those that “hates” going back to earlier Office versions having used them for many years, like many others (and I don’t understand why anyone would have a problem; some people must have short attention spans or lack skill sets; the pull-down menus are actually intuitive).