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MIX08 Microsoft Office 2007: The Story of the Ribbon

zoobean · talk · Watch on YouTube

UX & UI designGUI, HCI & interface history

What it is

A MIX08 session from Microsoft's Office team on how the Office 2007 ribbon was designed. It explains the user-feedback and telemetry behind it and the alternatives that were rejected.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN recommends it for its in-depth view of a major UI redesign process driven by user data.

  • 2 people recommended it
  • 2 different months
  • 0 strong recommendations
  • first 2019, last 2025

What HN commenters said

  1. “Really interesting talk”

    Why Microsoft chose the ribbon, driven by user feedback and telemetry

    nxc18, 2019-08 · Recommendation · in “Most software companies ignore user behavior”

  2. “some guys from MS actually talk through the design process and everything that went into it with a lot of depth”

    MS designers walk through ribbon design process and rejected alternatives in depth

    saratogacx, 2024-01 · Recommendation · in “Golden Rules of Interface Design (2013)”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: microsoft office, ux design, telemetry, ui design, user research

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