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Silver Bullet

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I couple of months ago I mentioned that we were working on a third color scheme for Office 2007, as well as continuing to tweak the visuals of the so-called "northwest" corner of the apps (the upper-left corner.)

I was planning on waiting until we finalized the visuals before posting pictures and more information, but some not-quite-finished screenshots leaked out on the Microsoft Design site last week. So, I thought, I might as well get in the action and leak some not-quite-finished screenshots myself.

So, without further ado… the new Office 2007 color scheme is called "Silver." Here's a picture of it running on top of a recent build of Windows Vista:


Silver color scheme on Windows Vista
(Click to enlarge and view full picture)

This color scheme was designed to provide a very neutral canvas on which to do your work. It draws your eye to the document and doesn't include some of the more decorative aspects of the other two color schemes, such as the architectural elements behind the document. And most importantly for a neutral canvas, Silver isn't infused or saturated with color, so that the design of your document stands out.

So, the final list of color schemes is: Blue, Silver, and Black. You can change between any of them from Options in any of the new UI programs included in Office 2007. Hopefully most people will be able to find at least one color scheme which suits their taste.


Comparison of the three color schemes running on Windows XP

In these screenshots you can also see some of the updated design work we've done around the upper-left corner of the application frame. This is an area in which we're still actively working, so these screenshots don't represent a totally finalized visual design. But you can see the direction we're headed… for instance, a lot of you gave feedback that you didn't like the curved upper-left corner in Beta 2, so we reworked it. We changed the visuals of the Quick Access Toolbar to make it look more distinctly like it's a toolbar and a separate entity within the title bar. On Vista, you can see the Quick Access Toolbar is drawn entirely on Aero Glass.

In a few weeks, we'll have finalized the visual designs and then I'll post a more detailed article with finished screenshots.

But, in the meantime, I thought you might like to see a work-in-progress of what we've been up in the visual design department over the last few months.

Comments

  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2006
    Jensen,

    Great, as it always is. So will this theme be available in Beta2TR and when will we be able to use it.

    You have also said, that the theme can be changed in every Office program, does this mean that now I can have word in Blue, Outlook in Silver and Excel in Black or is it one theme for all the office applications?

    Doing a great work. Can't get enough of the Office 2007
  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2006
    Seriously I like the old NW corner that was different than the rest. I think people would have come around to it. I think it's best not to make artistic decisions based on committee or based on what the general public wants -- functional yes, artistic no.

    Remember this is also a very limited subset of the audience of people who will be using this product and, as you've said, not representative of the greater public. Trust the artists: they know what they're doing.
  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2006
    Beautiful. I love neutral, subtle designs like that.

    And I'm glad the Quick Access Toolbar looks more like a toolbar. When I showed Word 2007 to someone, he didn't even realize the QAT was part of the program--he assumed for the first few minutes that it was some sort of floating shareware app at the top of the screen.

    I would, however, like to see EVEN MORE of a visual indication that the Office Button is an actual button and not just the product logo. Maybe make the "well" in which it sits even deeper? Not sure if I'm explaining myself well here, but this is one potential stumbling block in the new design: will people realize that's where you go to create a new document, choose Save As... etc.
  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2006
    One more question: Jensen, why did the team decide to put the Office logo on the button in the NW corner and not each individual app's logo?

    Putting the individual app's logo might help make it more immediately obvious to the user which Office app he or she is looking at when rapidly flipping between different programs (a pretty common thing for me to do, and probably for others).
  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2006
    Jensen Harris talks about some tweaking they've done with the Office 2007 UI - in particular the upper
  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2006
    Ooh!

    I never was quite a fan of the black style after trying it in practice, but silver is looking really nice!

    I like the new look of the NW corner, but I hope you'll come up with a better transition  betwheen the window border and the inside.

    The way it is right now looks very unnatural and WIP.
  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2006
    That is, referring to the space around the Office button. Sorry for double posting. ;)
  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2006
    On XP, all the changes are quite nice, but I agree with Cryo that the new NW corner looks terrible in Aero: the transition between the glass and non-glass areas is way too jarring and ugly.

  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2006
    I love the silver theme, well done!

    But I am too curious about the discoverability of the NW Office Button. How did users react to it in the usability lab? Did it take long before they found it? I sneak-installed the latest Office beta on my wife's laptop and she was a little confused about the Office button. Her first reaction when she opened Word was that she wondered how to print. I told her to click the Office-logo, and she replied: "Can I click that?". I definitely think it should have some more click-me-for-functionality affordance. Like I said, I'm very interested in hearing how your test-subjects did.

    Cheers!
    Jan-Kristian
  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2006
    Very nice; thank you! If I can't have an Office UI that follows my system theme or the ability to customize colors at will, you're at least headed in the right direction with the new silver theme.

    However, as shown in your screenshot, the silver theme still has an overall blue tint. It's subtle, but quite noticable.  I would really prefer that the silver theme be truly neutral.  Here's an illustration of what I'm talking about:

    http://www.smugmug.com/photos/82242182-O.png

    The center screenshot is the current silver theme.  On the left, I've bumped the saturation to make the overall blue tint more obvious.  On the right is the silver theme I'd like to see: the grays are totally neutral, not bluish gray.

    See also the comment I made to a previous blog posting regarding the trouble with non-neutral UIs in a design environment:

    http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2006/03/13/550407.aspx#556694
  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2006
    So an improved version of the Beta 1 color scheme emerges, but we lose the distinctive curve near the Office button--we can't have everything, I guess.  I'm at least happy to have my favorite color scheme back, and that's more important than a few transparent pixels! =)
  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2006
    So how do you bring up the system menu? Double-click the Office Button?
  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2006
    That's a button? I thought it was just some sort of decoration, like in the top righthand corner of IE. Well, now that I know I will probably get used to it.

    Maybe you need to put in a flying banner like the Win95 team did: Fresh installs had a flying banner that said "Click here" pointing at the Start menu. That way people realised where to go.
  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2006
    I am delighted to see that swoopy gradient in the page background gone. The design looks much cleaner and more professional now!

    Three points:
    1. SWB is right. Please make gray gray. Your "Fabrikam Journal" is a case in point why a bluish gray is bad. The title LOOKS gray in the context of the screen shot but actually would print somewhere between slate blue and zaffre.
    2. The Office button is a good idea--large, visible, and easy to click (being located in the corner of the screen.) However, I think that the word "File" or, as Ben says, the application/document icon is clearer than the Office logo (which resembles a stunted Apple key symbol.)
    3. The Recent Documents section of the Office menu could be improved. Files that are open should be marked as such, either by color/text/an icon or by adding a second list under the heading "Open Documents" (which would come after "Recent Documents".) Then users will know they can toggle to that window without muddling through View->Switch Windows.

    You could also mark files that are unsaved, as well as unsaved and unnamed files (e.g. Document2) under the heading "Open Documents." For keyboard shortcuts, you could use 09..01 (as in QAT buttons above 9.) There is plenty of space on the menu for this.
  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2006
    To wit: http://www.francispickering.com/menu.png

    (file names and tooltips not updated)
  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2006
    Excellent, but I would also like to see some more contrast in the colors used. Perhaps a 4th theme, or can these be added after release of the product? Is there a theme editor anywhere? Maybe it's time for a Power Tool??

    Jensen: kudos to you and the entire Office team - not only for the fantastic upcoming release but also for the new standard of communication thru blogs and RSS.

    I've been an enthusiast user of Office 2007 since last October - having converted every one of my systems to it (and fauthfully submitted bugs). I'm looking forward to the next beta, TR, or CTP. A lot speeedier statup of Outlook and I promise I'll be happy until the winter~!
  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2006
    PingBack from http://thinkabdul.com/2006/07/18/new-office-2007-beta-theme/
  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2006
    Some screen shots have been posted of tweaks made to the UI of Office 2007 as well as the addition of...
  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2006
    Instead of using a predefined set of color themes it should be possible to apply filters to the graphics used to make up the UI.

    And by default it should then use the system settings to adopt to the user settings.

    Also the Vista screenshot looks like the Ribbon has been painted with Paint.
  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2006
    In a Vista the Office button makes sense as it is. As it is like the Start Button, circle with logo. Though Start is distict in colour, while the office button blends in with the rest, except for the black theme.
    In XP, the user is not use to clicking on a circle with logo, but rather a button that has a little logo and the Word start, and so it may not be as ovious to the XP user, espically in the defualt theme for xp, where the button blends into the rest of the UI.
    So I would recomend making the button "pop out" from the rest of the UI a bit more in the silver and blue themes, and at least in XP have a "tool tip" pop up when rolled over that says  "Hey I'm the Office Button, I'm like the  button down there on the taskbar with the word Start, except I am for office" or "Hey you, click on me I'm the start and end of your documents!
    Or maybe something simpiler like "Start and Finish Button"
  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2006
    PingBack from http://techzap.net/2006/07/17/office-2007-gets-themes-ui-tweaks/
  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2006
    PingBack from http://kujis.com/bitsticks/?p=147
  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2006
    PingBack from http://beta.amanzi.co.nz/2006/07/18/new-silver-theme-for-office-2007/
  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2006
    Looking at the screenshots I much prefer the silver over the current somewhat-cyan blue, or black options. But it does look a little like it has been generated by simply desaturating the blue theme a little. It would be nice if the user could control saturation and hue actually - I remember a previous version of Media Player allowed something like that. Kind of ironic given that it is much more important when creating documents that are to be printed than listening to music.
    As for the round corner - I guess it is too hard to make it square when maximized and round when not?
  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2006
    Orion Adrian wrote:
    > I think it's best not to make
    > artistic decisions based on committee
    > or based on what the general public
    > wants -- functional yes, artistic no.

    Yes, but this is not an artistic decision.  The choice of color schemes, contrasts, visual characteristics all have a direct impact on users' ability to use the product.

    > Trust the artists: they know what
    > they're doing.

    Hmmm.  In my experience, most artists and graphic designers have little idea what they are doing when it comes to web design and HCI issues.  I would default to NOT trusting the artists: most of them should stick to doing art, where they can do no harm. :-/

  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2006
    The Silver theme looks very professional.
    Personally, I really like it.

    Since we're on the subject of changes to the product since Beta 2 - are beta testers going to receive an updated or interim build to test?
  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2006
    I like the new silver scheme, and the integration with Vista Aero is nice.  I personally liked the rounded edges, but I can get used to the rectangular ones.  I suppose integration with Vista Standard will look just like the integration with XP?
  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2006
    Jensen, I love it, the Office Team really listened when it comes to the canvas. Less focus on the background canvas and more emphasis on the document page.

    But Office 2007 is so mistmatched, non ribbon based apps such as Publisher, Visio, InfoPath don't share these themes, they are all black although the shadows on the drop down menus are awesome. Please update these apps so they have the Option under Tools to also utilize the the different colour schemes.
  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2006
    I want to add my agreement to SWB. Go with a true silver theme rather than silver with the blue theme.
  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2006
    Sorry...meant to say, 'true silver theme rather than silver with a blue tint
  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2006
    Hopefully there will be a scheme that has a smaller/narrower ribbon. I don't think I am the only one who finds the current schemes too large and intrusive.
  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2006
    I love the silver theme, like everyone else! It really does put the document first, then flashy nice-looking stravaganza buttons later :)

    Anyway, I was thinking, every new office version had a logo change. What is happening here? Is Office 2007 going to have the same marketing, same logos and everything else like the Office 2003? Looks like well have to wait and see.
  • Anonymous
    July 17, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    July 18, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    July 18, 2006
    Thank you for sharing this with us. I think the problem with the Quick Access Toolbar is the position and not the design. The Titlebar must be for the title.
    The new silver color theme looks great!
  • Anonymous
    July 18, 2006
    Don: just double-click to make the ribbon disappear. I use keyboard shortcuts so I don't even see the ribbon most of the time. This way the Word 2007 UI hogs barely more screen area than Notepad.
  • Anonymous
    July 18, 2006
    Don: "Smaller ribbon is a must - waaaay too much screen real estate is wasted for serious business writers/users."

    I agree, it's way too big. I'm not impressed by the justification that it's roughly the size of all the default toolbars, since I close all the toolbars on my Office apps.

    I did find, quite by accident, that if you CTRL-double-click on the text at the top of the ribbon, it will collapse. That frees up a significant amount of space.
  • Anonymous
    July 18, 2006
    Ah, so it's just a double-click to shrink the ribbon. Apologies.
  • Anonymous
    July 18, 2006
    I LOVE the silver cilor scheme. Great work.
  • Anonymous
    July 18, 2006
    new color scheme looks great! pics do not show up in the post though:(
  • Anonymous
    July 18, 2006
    You guys seem to be doing some amazing work there. I really loved the themes.
  • Anonymous
    July 18, 2006
    The UI would look more stunning if the bottom status bar of the window is blended into the glass window frame similar to Windows Media Player in Windows Vista.
  • Anonymous
    July 18, 2006
    Jensen, will you talk about the new application icons at some point?

    http://www.microsoft.com/resources/design/office.html
  • Anonymous
    July 18, 2006
    PingBack from http://www.graphicalwonder.com/?p=497
  • Anonymous
    July 19, 2006
    PingBack from http://microsoft.wagalulu.com/2006/07/19/office-2007-silver-on-windows-xp-silver/
  • Anonymous
    July 19, 2006
    Une nouvelle qui suit un peu la future mise à disposition d'un nouveau théme pour Vista sans aéro.
    Bien,...
  • Anonymous
    July 19, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    July 19, 2006
    Will there be any way to figure out what color scheme is being used through the Office object model?

    How do you support people who are building Office add-in that want to have the same look and feel as Office (instead of windows - for which the theme colors are currently available)
  • Anonymous
    July 19, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    July 19, 2006
    PingBack from http://sarathc.wordpress.com/2006/07/20/new-theme-for-office-2007/
  • Anonymous
    July 19, 2006
    owesome...
  • Anonymous
    July 19, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    July 20, 2006
    I notice the floppy and undo/redo icons on the QAT are very different from the icons on the ribbon buttons. The ribbon icons look more sophisticated because of restrained use of color.

    I actually don't like the QAT at all. It would have been better to incorporate the undo/redo and save buttons to the ribbon. Like someone said, the QAT looks like it was added on by a third-party utility or shareware.
  • Anonymous
    July 21, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    July 21, 2006
    No Green????  I love my olive green on XP, I am even using the Outlook 2003 theme for Firefox.  https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/892/  
    I am sad that there isn't going to be a similar theme for Vista/Office 2007.

    Michael Plasmeier
    http://theplaz.com
  • Anonymous
    July 21, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    July 21, 2006
    PingBack from http://billsbaby.com/index.php/2006/07/22/office-2007-silver-scheme/
  • Anonymous
    July 23, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    July 24, 2006
    What has happened in the MOSS-land while I was away?
    I chuckled a bit when I saw that the third...
  • Anonymous
    July 25, 2006
    Silver looks pretty good.  Not ideal, but definitely a vast improvement over blue and black.

    I second Francis suggestion that the recent documents have a visual indication that the document is open and whether it is saved or not.
  • Anonymous
    July 25, 2006
    What's the big deal with the Office button? Since the beginning of Windows the File menu has always been in the NW corner. I got the beta and figured it out first thing.

    Ian
  • Anonymous
    July 26, 2006
    Jensen Harris confirmed on his blog today that the before-mentioned icons from the Microsoft Design website
  • Anonymous
    July 26, 2006
    I love the new Office, but that NW button totally killed me the first time I used the beta too. I share the concerns of other commenters above.

    I thought.. "cool, no menus, obviously you open documents from Explorer / Desktop only like I do on OS X" and wrote off the existance of any File menu whatsoever.

    I happily went about my business until I found I really needed something from there (possibly New) and even then it took me a few tries to work out where it was (after going through the help!)

    It's really not that obvious. Even if I'm 1 in 100 who found it hard to figure out, when you have 100 million people using Office...
  • Anonymous
    August 10, 2006
  1. I liked the old NW corner better.  I don't know if the Office Button shrunk, but it seems smaller.  I liked the way the Quick Access Toolbar looked before.  With it being the same background as the titlebar, it's kind of lost. The Office Button itself isn't immediately discoverable.  I'm not trained to look for things like that in the corner where previously only the system menu appeared.  I can't tell you how much time I wasted in Excel looking for a way to print that wasn't "quick print".

    2) It took me several minutes of staring at the Office Button menu before I could find "Editor Options" to change the color scheme.  The only reason I kept looking is because someone assured me it was there.  Why isn't this an option in the menu on the left?  What makes it so special that it deserves to be a button off by itself in a corner where there is otherwise nothing?  It would be nicer if we stuck to 1 style and put those button commands in the menu.