Microsoft Office Is Getting a Makeover

June 14, 2018

Customer Input and Research Helped Guide the Redesign of Microsoft Office

Trish Miner, Principal Design Researcher, Microsoft

(Redmond, WA, Thursday, June 14, 2018) – Whether you’re writing a letter in Word, managing a budget in Excel or sending an email in Outlook, Microsoft Office is the go-to place to get stuff done for millions of people around the world. Starting this week, users across the globe at home and work will begin to see some welcome changes to the design of popular productivity apps including Outlook and Word.

The newly designed experiences offer noteworthy benefits:

Simplified Ribbon Toolbar:
The updated ribbon offers a cleaner, simpler design for our commands so that users can focus on their work and collaborate naturally with others. It also provides a dedicated space for collaboration features so they are always one click away.

New Icons and Color:
The new look includes icons with crisper colors and lines, modernizing the experience and making Office more inclusive as it enables people with varying levels of vision loss or color vision deficiency to experience the product.

Search:
The newly designed search will become a much more important element of the user experience, providing access to commands, content and people. With “zero query” search, simply placing your cursor in the search box will bring up recommended next steps powered by artificial intelligence and the Microsoft Graph that anticipate your needs.

Over the last year, Microsoft deeply studied how Office was being used across work, home and play and worked side-by-side with customers to develop new experiences. As a result, customers will benefit from a more simplified experience while maintaining the full power of Office and a design ethos that is more inclusive—empowering everyone to create, communicate and collaborate. The team is also increasing its focus not just on what people think of the product, but how they feel while using it.

You can find more information on the new Office designs coming to an inbox near you on the Office 365 blog.

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