Windows 8 Ribbon UI Analysis

The status of the Ribbon UI in Window 8 has been fixed, and no matter whether the opposition is high, it can't stop this change. In fact, if you really understand the design of the Ribbon, you can see that the opposition is only due to prejudice and habits. This article takes the resource manager as a case to do some preliminary analysis of some of the Ribbon UI design.

0. The biggest drawback: take up too much space?

The main reason for opponents is that in this widescreen era, the Ribbon takes up too much vertical space.

In a word, this reason is untenable because the Ribbon can be folded in one click. Click on the arrow icon in the upper right corner to shrink to the following shape:

Is this consistent with the space occupied by the traditional menu bar?

The traditional menu has at least the following disadvantages compared to the Ribbon:

The traditionally unfolded vertical wipe takes up more vertical space: if it is considered a disadvantage for the Ribbon, then it should Equally accessible;

Less accessible: traditional menus of a pile of head-sized text, more difficult to find, locate, and click than the illustrated Ribbon button;

Traditional menu Yes & rdquo; has mode & rdquo;: once you lose focus, it will disappear, and Ribbon can choose not to disappear

Ribbon can actually be considered as the hybrid of traditional menu and toolbar: menu expansion, toolbar layout In addition, the function enhancement (such as hover preview) is made, and the traditional toolbar is also more than a lot.

If you really need it, you can put the toolbar in the title bar. Anyway, most of the space in the title bar is empty. In fact, Ribbon does exactly that.

So, the Ribbon is actually more space-saving, from the smaller vertical occupation of the expansion and the cancellation of the traditional toolbar. At the same time, there is no sacrifice of usability and improved accessibility.

If you just refute the most important objection and don't make up a few more shots, let's talk about the advantages of Ribbon, then this article is too monotonous. Here are some of the advantages of Ribbon:

1. Ribbon reduces the operation steps Another biggest feature of Ribbon UI is that it changes the display layout and functions according to the context (current path, selected object). Most importantly, the new design reduces unnecessary steps, and many features no longer need to pop up a secondary dialog.

In the normal folder:

In my computer:

Take [properties] as an example. For users who don't know Alt+Enter, Ribbon The previous UI needs to click the right-click property. In the Ribbon, just click the [Property] button that is fixed on the title bar.

After selecting the disk:

Take Disk Cleanup as an example. Previously you needed the right-click->Property->Disk Cleanup. Now just click [Clean Up] in [Disk Tool].

After selecting the [Library] object:

Similar examples are too numerous to enumerate. Almost all of them used to have secondary menus and secondary dialogs (worse, often there are mode conversations). The operation that can be done in the box can be completed in the Ribbon only by a few places.

Even if the author never puts a mouse on a computer like this, users who are used to pure keyboard shortcuts have to praise this design.

2. Customizable interface After the great improvement of Windows 7 taskbar, various common programs, files and operations can be nailed to the taskbar.

This design is perfected in the Ribbon, such as in the File menu of the Explorer, you can fix commonly used files and locations.

In addition, the traditional toolbar mentioned above has also changed, moving to the [Quick Access Toolbar] in the title bar. The buttons displayed in the title bar are also customizable:

In addition to taking advantage of the long-lost headline space, it also reduces the difficulty of the user's mouse positioning on the button. In the case of maximizing the window, the user is completely You can blindly move the mouse up and don't worry that the mouse pointer is too far away. This is another design that speeds up access.

3. Summary So, the Ribbon UI is a complete, well-thought-out design with a core goal of improving usability and accessibility and providing a better user experience. This improvement violates user habits and therefore has a strong opposition.