The Revit 2010 Ribbon Development Process

Kudos to the Revit Factory for sharing the process which went into a, much needed, overhaul of the Revit User Interface for 2010. Overall I think the ribbon is a huge step forward and working across several Autodesk platforms I do find the shared UX makes life easier. I also think there is room for improvement in the new Revit UX but will leave commenting on that for future posts. AutoCAD Architecture users should also watch this as a similar ribbon'lution is coming to ACA 2010.

Inside the Factory: The Ribbon Process in Four Minutes

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZBIAtdCEss&w=425&h=350]

While the Revit video focuses on the Ribbon it's only one component of what Microsoft term the "Fluent User Interface". Jensen Harris shared their development process back when Office 2007 was released. It's well worth viewing as backgrounds the rational for abandoning the traditional Menu/Toolbar interface and shows many prototypes on the road to the ribbon.

RobiNZ CAD Blog: The Story of the a Ribbon

It’s the year of the Ribbon, but why?

Jensen Harris, of the Microsoft Office User Experience Team, has posted a recording (and PowerPoint) of his awesome presentation at MIX. He tells the story of the Office UI development from version 1.0 to 2007. It’s a compelling explanation of why Microsoft ditched Menus & Toolbars for the task based “Fluent interface” with it’s Ribbon, Contextual Tabs, the Mini Toolbar, and Galleries.