AOO Symphony UX Migration/Merge Analysis - Print and Print Preview

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Assessment

In support of the Lotus Symphony 3.0.1 (LS) and Apache OpenOffice 3.4 (AOO) code merge activity, Apache OpenOffice UX has prepared the following user experience merge assessment. The outcome of the assessment is an understanding of which aspects of the print and print preview user experience should be migrated or merged from each offering into the new code base.

• UX Merge Assessment - Print and Print Preview -_1.1.odt

Heuristics

The following heuristics were considered in assessing the print and print preview feature under merge consideration.

• usability principles
• interaction principles
• promotes user adoption
• strategic usage goals
• branding initiatives

UX Recommendation

Through an assessment of the user experience strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement of the print and print preview feature within each of the current implementations (LS and AOO), UX recommends the follow action:

• AOO 4.0 code base should adopt elements from both the Lotus Symphony and Apache OpenOffice print and print preview user experience design

UX Migration/Merge Design Considerations

Each offering demonstrated strengths and weaknesses that should be considered in migrating and merging the user experience for this feature.

In merging the Lotus Symphony and Apache OpenOffice print and print preview user experience into the AOO 4.0 code base we should be mindful to address the following merge considerations and opportunities for improvement.

• A24 - strengthen the information design and affordance of the Close print preview mode
• A30 - emulate UI pattern of known, predictable and familiar print dialog to allow users to leverage their existing OS print dialog knowledge
• A33 - Adopt AOO print options dialog, and ensure key attributes from LS are included in merge interaction design
• A48 - adopt the LS information architecture and place print range commands in File main menu, proximate to other print commands
• A51 (duplicate of A01, A06, A11, A36, A43) - adopt LS approach and cluster all print-related commands, including print, print preview and print ranges (where applicable) commands in File main menu
• A52 (duplicate of A02, A07, A12, A37, A44) - provide menu icons for each print command to reinforce association with associated print-oriented contextual toolbars
• A54 (duplicate of A39, A46) - adopt AOO approach to make the high frequency, broadly accepted and ecological responsible print option, print to .PDF, available in default toolbar
• A55 (duplicate of A40, A47) - to promote migration and make the preview command label more explicit and contextual to a print action, re-name the preview from "Page Preview" to "Print Preview"
• A56 (duplicate of A14) - support print preview in presentation editor, provide consistent experience with other editors
• A57 (duplicate of A04, A09, A15) - make print preview command available in main toolbar
• A58 - ensure zoom icon is consistent with other editors, replace paper and magnifying glass with magnifying glass
• A79 (duplicate of A17, A61) - have print preview enter a separate print preview mode to focus tasks
• A80 (duplicate of A18, A62) - only provide print-oriented context toolbar for key commands in print preview mode
• A81 (duplicate of A19, A63) - provide main menu that is contextual to print preview mode
• A82 (duplicate of A03, A08, A13, A20, A64) - provide standard print accelerator (Ctrl+P) for primary print command
• A83 (duplicate of A21, A65) - adopt LS zoom toolbar design and behaviour
• A84 (duplicate of A22, A66) - adopt LS page presentation options toolbar design and behaviour, ensure control evokes an interactive drop-down, versus modal dialog
• A85 (duplicate of A23, A67) - optimize the default print preview zoom to leverage the available workspace - match the real world as much as possible
• A86 (duplicate of A68) - adopt AOO command label for close print preview mode - Close Preview
• A87 (duplicate of A69) - remove full screen mode,
• A88 (duplicate of A70) - if full screen mode retained, improve the command label to close full screen
• A89 (duplicate of A71) - if full screen mode retained, move to command to the zoom and presentation toolbar cluster, remove from print toolbar cluster
• A90 (duplicate of A72) - ensure all editors have a consistent printing UI for common items (navigation, format page, zoom, print, close preview)
• A91 (duplicate of A73) - if separate print preview still includes file and print toolbars, seek ways to unify the presentation and behaviour of print commands, including icon consistency and tool tip consistency
• A92 - adopt LS available actions design approach and provide a print command in the page preview toolbar
• A93 - adopt LS information design and rename page preview to print preview
• A94 - provide ability to scale spreadsheet content to preview, using toolbar slider
• A95 - provide a label for the spreadsheet content scaling control differentiate it from the document zooming command in footer
• A96 - adopt AOO approach to provide access to page formatting options
• A97 - adopt AOO approach to make interactive margins available

In addition, the assessment of each offering identified a number of additional opportunities for improvement to consider while performing the code merge. See Medium and Low priority issues contained in the full assessment report.

Next Steps

To ensure that the assessment has an impact on the design direction of the feature merge moving forward, UX recommends the following actions:

• Invite AOO Community contributors to review the recommendations.
• AOO Community should work together to address outstanding issues in the merged code UX.
• AOO Community work together to promote the optimal merged user experience within the AOO community.
• Continue to assess high risk UX migration and merge candidates. See UX migration and merge worksheets for priorities.