Microsoft Office 2013 : Disappointing UI

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What happened to Microsoft’s usability team? The color choices, particularly the single glaring white background everywhere make it appear as one giant screen instead of meaningful sections on the screen. Why dumb down so much in terms of user experience? No more round edges, gradients, shadows, contrasting backgrounds or easy on eyes highlighting. 

I am not a designer, but I see an UI element communicate by its color, shape, position, contrast, focus and of course text. The new UI in 2013 definitely eliminated some of those attributes for some elements.

word2010vs2013Word 2010 vs. Word 2013

So far, the only big difference I see is the integration of SkyDrive so that documents can be readily saved in to the cloud and retrieved any where.  At another level, going towards subscriptions could be a game changer for Microsoft.

But when it comes to the UI, I find it boring and am little disappointed.

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