Difference between revisions of "Competitor Analysis"
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** the commonly-used buttons Undo, Redo, and Repeat are inexplicably not found in the ribbon, instead being in the QA toolbar | ** the commonly-used buttons Undo, Redo, and Repeat are inexplicably not found in the ribbon, instead being in the QA toolbar | ||
** the Help button, found on the right of the ribbon as the only button in the ribbon tab bar | ** the Help button, found on the right of the ribbon as the only button in the ribbon tab bar | ||
− | ** the Options and Exit buttons are housed under the Office button at the bottom right unlike the other items in the menu | + | ** the Options and Exit buttons are housed under the Office button at the bottom right unlike the other items in the menu |
+ | * controversial: praised for ease and speed of use [http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/office2007_02.asp], but criticized for continuing with non-sensical deviations from logic [http://smurfonspreadsheets.wordpress.com/the-ribbon-ui/] [http://www.terminally-incoherent.com/blog/2007/07/13/office-2007-is-a-disaster/] [http://techrepublic.com.com/5208-6230-0.html?forumID=102&threadID=213534&messageID=2228926] | ||
| | | | ||
* '''menus''' | * '''menus''' | ||
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* "the Toolbox," a palette combining formatting tools, object insertion, animation parameters, a "scrapbook" tool, reference tools (thesaurus, dictionary, etc.), compatibility reports, and a project tool | * "the Toolbox," a palette combining formatting tools, object insertion, animation parameters, a "scrapbook" tool, reference tools (thesaurus, dictionary, etc.), compatibility reports, and a project tool | ||
* a unique, yet useful "Gallery" containing styles | * a unique, yet useful "Gallery" containing styles | ||
+ | * a bit bloated, interface-wise | ||
| | | | ||
* '''menus''' | * '''menus''' | ||
Line 25: | Line 27: | ||
* a small toolbar with contextual commands | * a small toolbar with contextual commands | ||
* '''Inspector,''' a floating formatting palette providing formatting tools | * '''Inspector,''' a floating formatting palette providing formatting tools | ||
+ | * The Inspector features commands not found in the menus, forcing the user to look under both. | ||
| | | | ||
* '''menus''' | * '''menus''' | ||
* a toolbar with static, commonly-used options | * a toolbar with static, commonly-used options | ||
+ | * a very spartan interface | ||
|- style="background:#FFFFDD; font-style:italic" valign="top" | |- style="background:#FFFFDD; font-style:italic" valign="top" | ||
| Thoughts | | Thoughts | ||
− | | | + | | colspan="4" | |
− | + | I'd say the ribbon is the best quick-access interface of the pack, as it provides one central place to browse through, provides the most common options right up front (except for the Insert options), but it does suffer a bit from illogical organization and lack of flexibility (no customizability or vertical interface). The inspector palettes in iWork and Mac:Office are good contenders for a useable vertical interface, but both have their share of disadvantages. For example, the fact that they are floating means that they can hide portions of the document. The MS Toolbox is overstuffed with features, as the tools that iWork spreads out nicely in the Inspector are crammed into one tab in the MS Toolbox. Both also suffer from unclear tab icons. | |
− | |||
− | |||
|- valign="top" | |- valign="top" | ||
| '''Scrolling''' | | '''Scrolling''' | ||
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| Scrolls within the slide only | | Scrolls within the slide only | ||
| No scrolling by default (the zoom changes as the window is resized), but, with zoom, one can scroll the slide only | | No scrolling by default (the zoom changes as the window is resized), but, with zoom, one can scroll the slide only | ||
+ | |- style="background:#FFFFDD; font-style:italic" valign="top" | ||
+ | | Thoughts | ||
+ | | colspan="4" | | ||
+ | None of these behaviors is ideal or consistent with other applications in the suite (no option allows two slides to be shown at once) for no good reason, but the MS PowerPoint behavior is preferrable over the others. | ||
|- valign="top" | |- valign="top" | ||
| '''Dragging/editing textboxes''' | | '''Dragging/editing textboxes''' | ||
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* Free movement | * Free movement | ||
* No way to rotate the frame | * No way to rotate the frame | ||
+ | |- style="background:#FFFFDD; font-style:italic" valign="top" | ||
+ | | Thoughts | ||
+ | | colspan="4" | | ||
+ | Moving items in Keynote is a pleasure, due to the reasons listed above and the fact that the user doesn't have to struggle to select the textbox (it's one click anywhere on the textbox, as, unlike its competitors, double-clicking is required to edit it). This is definitely something OOo should take note of. | ||
|- valign="top" | |- valign="top" | ||
| '''Lists''' | | '''Lists''' | ||
| | | | ||
− | Coming soon... | + | Coming soon... (although it's probably the same as the Mac counterpart) |
| | | | ||
* Text bulleted by default (in some masters) | * Text bulleted by default (in some masters) | ||
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* Inserted and managed through a toolbar button | * Inserted and managed through a toolbar button | ||
* In Google Docs (both the presentation and the document editor), two consecutive "enters" move the list to the superior level, and when there are no more, end the list | * In Google Docs (both the presentation and the document editor), two consecutive "enters" move the list to the superior level, and when there are no more, end the list | ||
+ | |- style="background:#FFFFDD; font-style:italic" valign="top" | ||
+ | | Thoughts | ||
+ | | colspan="4" | | ||
+ | None of these behaviors seem to be completely logical or expected. Google Docs at least maintains consistency across its suite's applications, but uses the strange behavior of enter, where, instead of giving new blank lines each time, as it does with non-bulleted indented lists, the indent is decreased. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Anyway, instead of repeating the same info over and over again, let me just say what I think we should have, based on logic: | ||
+ | * Just like with regular indents, "Backspace" should decrease/remove an indent, "Enter" should create a new line with the same indent, and "Tab" should increase the indent. After the indent in the paragraph is removed, "Backspace" removes the bullet. This behavior should be the same across all OOo applications. | ||
+ | * It should be easy to set custom bullets. | ||
+ | * It should be easy to move list items up, down, decrease and increase indents, with and without subpoints, just like it currently is. | ||
|- valign="top" | |- valign="top" | ||
| '''Customization''' | | '''Customization''' | ||
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| Split into two Edit options: "Paste" and "Paste and match style". | | Split into two Edit options: "Paste" and "Paste and match style". | ||
| No paste special | | No paste special | ||
+ | |- valign="top" | ||
+ | | '''Image manipulation''' | ||
+ | | Coming soon... | ||
+ | | * Easy rotating with a green "rotate" button above the image; also has a "size, rotation, and ordering" section in the toolbox, where the size can be typed in numerically, the image can be flipped, and distributed and aligned with other objects. | ||
+ | * Restricted positioning | ||
+ | * Recolor, shape, replace, brightness, contrast, transparency, effects, and quick styles and effects (including glow, shadow, and 3D options) set from the Toolbox | ||
+ | * "Set transparent color" feature | ||
+ | * No live preview while cropping | ||
+ | | * Resized, rotated, flipped, and positioned through a comfortable, precise (the user can type in the angle, size, and position in numbers) Inspector "Metrics" tab. Objects are aligned and distributed through an "Arrange" menu. | ||
+ | * Unrestricted positioning | ||
+ | * Stroke, "image adjustements" (brightness, contrast, saturation, tint, temperature, sharpness, exposure, color levels, opacity, [reset]), shadow, and reflection can be set right from the format bar as well as from the Graphic tab in the Inspector. | ||
+ | * Alpha "circular wand" | ||
+ | * Masking (cropping) features live preview (the sections masked have reduced opacity) | ||
+ | | * Unrestricted positioning (but no live preview) | ||
+ | * No extra features except arrangement tools under the "Arrange" menu | ||
+ | |- style="background:#FFFFDD; font-style:italic" valign="top" | ||
+ | | Thoughts | ||
+ | | colspan="4" | | ||
+ | The "Metrics" tab in iWork and the "Image adjustments" palette are wonderfully simple and straightforward while retaining a number of features. The best transparency feature seems to be in the planned Office 14 [http://www.beingmanan.com/wp/2009/05/office-2010-new-features/], where one can specify by drawing green lines over the places the selection should include and red ones over the places it shouldn't, as it is pretty precise, yet easy to use. | ||
|} | |} | ||
− | More to come. Or, if anybody wants to add these topics, go ahead: Installation, customization (appearance, colors, etc.), updating, collaboration, inserting tables, Help, adding/removing slides, playing the slide show, audio/video (setting audio to start/stop on slides, embedding and playing back a video), warnings when saving to a format which might render file incorrectly, cropping images, downloading and working with language tools (grammar/spell checking) | + | More to come. Or, if anybody wants to add these topics, go ahead: Installation, customization (appearance, colors, etc.), updating, collaboration, inserting tables, Help, adding/removing slides, playing the slide show, audio/video (setting audio to start/stop on slides, embedding and playing back a video), warnings when saving to a format which might render file incorrectly, cropping images, and downloading and working with language tools (grammar/spell checking). You can also add screenshots (be aware of copyright issues [http://www.microsoft.com/about/legal/permissions/default.mspx#E3C] [http://www.apple.com/legal/trademark/copyright.html], as Apple is particularly known for suing people who post unauthorized screenshots), other presentation applications, comments, links, and other things that could be useful. And feel free to correct me if I'm doing this wrong. |
Revision as of 16:22, 26 June 2009
MS PowerPoint 2007 | MS Powerpoint 2008 (Mac) | Apple Keynote '09 | Google Docs (as of June 2009) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Default UI overview
(the main interface is bolded) |
|
|
|
|
Thoughts |
I'd say the ribbon is the best quick-access interface of the pack, as it provides one central place to browse through, provides the most common options right up front (except for the Insert options), but it does suffer a bit from illogical organization and lack of flexibility (no customizability or vertical interface). The inspector palettes in iWork and Mac:Office are good contenders for a useable vertical interface, but both have their share of disadvantages. For example, the fact that they are floating means that they can hide portions of the document. The MS Toolbox is overstuffed with features, as the tools that iWork spreads out nicely in the Inspector are crammed into one tab in the MS Toolbox. Both also suffer from unclear tab icons. | |||
Scrolling | Scrolls through slides, but doesn't show two slides at once | Behaves like its Windows counterpart | Scrolls within the slide only | No scrolling by default (the zoom changes as the window is resized), but, with zoom, one can scroll the slide only |
Thoughts |
None of these behaviors is ideal or consistent with other applications in the suite (no option allows two slides to be shown at once) for no good reason, but the MS PowerPoint behavior is preferrable over the others. | |||
Dragging/editing textboxes |
|
Same as its Windows counterpart |
|
|
Thoughts |
Moving items in Keynote is a pleasure, due to the reasons listed above and the fact that the user doesn't have to struggle to select the textbox (it's one click anywhere on the textbox, as, unlike its competitors, double-clicking is required to edit it). This is definitely something OOo should take note of. | |||
Lists |
Coming soon... (although it's probably the same as the Mac counterpart) |
|
|
|
Thoughts |
None of these behaviors seem to be completely logical or expected. Google Docs at least maintains consistency across its suite's applications, but uses the strange behavior of enter, where, instead of giving new blank lines each time, as it does with non-bulleted indented lists, the indent is decreased. Anyway, instead of repeating the same info over and over again, let me just say what I think we should have, based on logic:
| |||
Customization |
Coming soon... |
|
|
|
Paste Special | A floating, contextual drop-down button, which presents three choices: "Keep Source Formatting," "Use Destination Theme," and "Keep Text Only" | Same as its Windows counterpart. | Split into two Edit options: "Paste" and "Paste and match style". | No paste special |
Image manipulation | Coming soon... | * Easy rotating with a green "rotate" button above the image; also has a "size, rotation, and ordering" section in the toolbox, where the size can be typed in numerically, the image can be flipped, and distributed and aligned with other objects.
|
* Resized, rotated, flipped, and positioned through a comfortable, precise (the user can type in the angle, size, and position in numbers) Inspector "Metrics" tab. Objects are aligned and distributed through an "Arrange" menu.
|
* Unrestricted positioning (but no live preview)
|
Thoughts |
The "Metrics" tab in iWork and the "Image adjustments" palette are wonderfully simple and straightforward while retaining a number of features. The best transparency feature seems to be in the planned Office 14 [5], where one can specify by drawing green lines over the places the selection should include and red ones over the places it shouldn't, as it is pretty precise, yet easy to use. |
More to come. Or, if anybody wants to add these topics, go ahead: Installation, customization (appearance, colors, etc.), updating, collaboration, inserting tables, Help, adding/removing slides, playing the slide show, audio/video (setting audio to start/stop on slides, embedding and playing back a video), warnings when saving to a format which might render file incorrectly, cropping images, and downloading and working with language tools (grammar/spell checking). You can also add screenshots (be aware of copyright issues [6] [7], as Apple is particularly known for suing people who post unauthorized screenshots), other presentation applications, comments, links, and other things that could be useful. And feel free to correct me if I'm doing this wrong.