Microsoft Design

I think the traditional "desktop Office" is going away completely, even on Windows.

They're building a new Fluent UI for React Native library and it's designed to work across Windows, macOS, iOS, Android. Microsoft Design has blogged [1] about it being the future for the Microsoft 365 initiative (of which Office 365 is a subset).

They've also sunset the "Online" branding for Office Online. It's now simply "Office". [2]

I think they're intentionally blurring the lines here to eventually have everything converge. And save many, many development hours while at it. I wouldn't be surprised if the "Windows Office" will become something hosted in their new WebView2 control (Chromium-based Edge renderer).

[1] https://medium.com/microsoft-design/how-fluent-ui-unlocks-the-next-generation-of-microsoft-365-experiences-8b24809faf06

[2] https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/office-apps-blog/why-office-online-is-now-simply-office/ba-p/760207

I just look at some of their design for Teams [1], which is something I am forced to used everyday along with Outlook. They are finally ( at least I hope those are final design ) not taking away my vertical space with endless layers / rows of buttons. The absolute maximum I could take is three layers, as shown in the Excel screen shots.

I also cant remember the last time I was excited about design from Microsoft. May be it was Windows XP.

My only concern is Microsoft has a tradition of messing it up when they ship it. And in typical Microsoft tradition you are likely getting Fluent 2 on top of Fluent 1 and then Metro, Aero or even Win 95 design All in one. I just wish they could release a more coherent system at the expense of backward computability. May be targeting Chromebook OS market, where backward compatibility isn't as much as a concern.

[1] https://medium.com/microsoft-design/designing-the-new-era-of-teams-523d772add4

Yeah I truly don't understand who (if anyone) is leading design at Microsoft. There's so many good examples of how to do things right in UI these days and they somehow keep making the wrong choices.

Other examples include their insistence on pixel-thin icons which are barely legible when reduced [1], flat buttons that are just colored boxes devoid of even basic button affordances, hard edges everywhere, and nearly 100% saturated colors that are an assault on the eyes.

They've never been very good at UI, but where they are these days is just bad. Their new Fluent design language [2] on mobile looks like an improvement from Metro, they're actually seeing what others are doing and copying it decently enough, but its not really out there much in their products.

[1] example here https://medium.com/microsoft-design/evolving-the-microsoft-fluent-design-system-9b37fb890c82

[2] https://www.microsoft.com/design/fluent/

While the name Aptos is explained in the article, I was more curious about the previous name Bierstadt (because the font is "inspired by Swiss typography", but the Swiss are not especially famous for their beer), and I found it in https://medium.com/microsoft-design/beyond-calibri-finding-the-next-microsoft-365-default-font-5ef83f028be2:

> As for the name, Bierstadt is named for one of Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks. When I think of Swiss type, I think of the Alps, and since I’m based in Boulder, my Alps are the Rockies

So it was more of a multi-step reasoning: Switzerland -> Alps -> Mountains -> Rockies -> peak in the Rockies with German-sounding name -> Bierstadt.

I’d have liked a bit more on the visual (and subjective part, this is probably also there the issues lies, apart from bugs) alignment aspect. The first apple example seems pretty well centered to me for example.

I’d like to use system fonts more often, but apart from the vendor brand fonts like Segoe or San Francisco they are pretty terrible to use all around.

So choosing a custom font and fitting everything around it seems like the solution for now. Apart from that, I’d like to see more support for leading-trim, which will help make things better, at least on the web. https://medium.com/microsoft-design/leading-trim-the-future-of-digital-typesetting-d082d84b202

The rationale is this: "we believe":

--- start quote ---

Calibri has been the default font for all things Microsoft 365 since 2007, when it stepped in to replace Times New Roman across Microsoft Office. It has served us all well, but we believe it’s time to evolve.

--- end quote ---

It's literally designers keeping their jobs by running in an endless hamster wheel.

Edit: to those downvoting. Read the articles. This is the entirety of their rationale over two articles. The quote above is from the article they linked as "Calibri has come its natural end": https://medium.com/microsoft-design/beyond-calibri-finding-the-next-microsoft-365-default-font-5ef83f028be2