Thanks for taking the time to expand your views on this a bit more. I was a bit confused by your response 🙂
@Zynewave wrote:
What I gather from the article, was that a major part of the development time was spent figuring out how to lay out the ribbon control, and what commands should be available in the ribbon.
Correct. Yes.
Implementing the basic functionality of a ribbon control in Podium is not a problem, but it is going to take a HUGE amount of time to figure out what the ribbon should contain.
Yes and no IMO. Yes a longer time if we re organise the existing menus into a more logical workflow UI (greater benefit) but no it should not take long at all to figure out the contents of the tabs if you approach the idea using the first suggestion I made as to how to implement it…
“1. Keep the current groups as they are but place them in their own ribbon. So instead of a drop down menu each for File, Edit, View and Setup we could use tabs with a Ribbon underneath it showing the contents of those tabs.”
Or put another way…the tabs in the ribbon will mirror the existing menu contents exactly as they are now.
Your suggestions for the main tabs is the easy part. It’s almost certain that each Podium user would want something different in the ribbon, possibly more so than the typical MS word user.
I can see how people might want there own variation of the ribbon but if you simply move the current menus for File, View e.t.c into a ribbon UI tabbed design, the actual layout would be identical to the current one.
Difference? No more drop down menus. That is really all I was suggesting… a further refinement of an already very good design, not a massive overhaul of a desparately problematic UI. Far from it.
I did say if I could I would pay you to design all day and you know I have many times said how much I admire your design skills over the years. It is quite obvious you really know your way around UI design.
Personally I cannot see how a Podium user would want more variations in a ribbon in Podium than a MS word user. That is why I suggested option 1 to eradicate that problem if it became a problem.
Word users cover the globe with hundreds of millions of users with easily just as many different approaches to Word. I understand how we might want different things in it (using my second suggestion) but surely not ever nearly on the scale of variation as Microsofts globally used Word product customer base! 🙂
That’s why I originally designed the editor profile system, which allows the user to configure the entire workspace
Personally I really like this idea. It is very powerful and very flexible.
The editor profile is very powerful. I like it. No question, Perhaps an idea from a Microsoft product brings images of bloat, lost productivity and an overpriced product…I was not a great fan of Word 2002 at all, and used it out of necessity but it is the complete opposite now. To my total amazement.
The Editor profile could possibly be extended to allow for users to add whatever they want to the ribbon. No need to spend time thinking about every users possible variation, let a user choose. The Editor profile will not / cannot do away with drop down menus. The ribbon can.
Also it would be a USP for Podium. You do not have massive marketing budgets and huge amounts of exposure but a good idea (not found elsewhere) can go a very long way.
Please bear in mind the idea for the placement of this ribbon is very much like the mixer (can easily be dragged out of the way) but instead of dragging it upwards this would be dragged downwards into view so it would not visually impact users who would not make use of it.
Having said all that Frits, I am very happy to side step the idea of it being in Podium if you feel it is too much work for you either now or in future. Or even if you feel it’s just not for you (as Podium is your product). It was really just an idea but other Podium users have equally important, creative suggestions and views that should be equally considered as well. 🙂
@Zynewave wrote:
Comments?
If I could I would pay you to simply design all day! Really nice Frits. 
I was going to make some suggestions for Podiums UI but I have simply not had the time for a full mock up but I think this screen shot should tell the story…
A ribbon for Podium to eliminate drop down menus (or at least make them optional).
I read this articleon UI design and it was quite an eye opener. I definitely suggest you read it at some point and indeed anyone else interested in UI design in more detail.
The idea in more detail:
Arrangement properties should be taken care of on the Project start page before the arrangement is created. So the tabs for a new look UI for Podium could be for…
Composition
Editing
Mixing
Mastering
Save
Or (as it would be seen on screen horizontally)
Tabs for Composition Editing Mixing Mastering Save
Something that provides a logical progression for a producer. One would compose first , mix then (if doing so internally) move on to Mastering. Editing I would say might be placed aftercomposing as a tab.
This kind of placement of tabs is incredibly efficient for workflow and as of today I do not know of any host that provides this kind of logical layout for menus.
I have used Office 2007 for about 3 months now and there are many highly useful features in Word 2007, Excel 2007 and Outlook 2007 that were there all along that I just could not find easily and as a result not used them until now. The ribbon interface is far more logical, faster and incredibly intuitive to use.
Notice that the tabs are arranged in terms of the order of tasks you are likely to perform not just what you need. The order you will likely need them is the driver for the placement of the tabs. This makes far more sense.
Microsoft were running out of space for drop down menus and were getting requests for features in Office 2007 that were already in Office 2003! They simply had too many drop down lists and menus.
I initially tried the demo of Office 2007, Word 2007 in particular and was sold on the new interface very quickly.
It is sooooooooo different from the older drop down menu approach. I am getting things done far quicker and getting far more value for money out of the software as a result.
Also amazingly I have zero need for right clicking. Every feature I need is accessible from that Ribbon at the top. You can work in Word 2007 without anything ever dropping down to obscure your workplace. Same screenspace as previous versions of word but this time that same space is being put to far better use.
So how would this grouping work in Podium ?
Two ways…
1. Keep the current groups as they are but place them in their own ribbon. So instead of a drop down menu each for File, Edit, View and Setup we could use tabs with a Ribbon underneath it showing the contents of those tabs.
Something that can be dragged into view like the mixer so that one can easily revert back the older drop down menus if need be. A global option would be a good idea to set and forget.
2. Re structure the menus to reflect a logical workflow pattern. Something that will fit into a Save Compose Edit Mix Master Ribbon layout.
Even track level options can fit into these tabs as well as the File, View e.t.c menus to eliminate the need to use them. Everything as in Word 2007 can be accessed from a logical palcement of tabs that mirror a typical users workflow.
Thoughts?
