Producers of productivity software are changing the user interfaces of their software:

• To make things work with (their own preferred) cloud storage service instead of the computer file system

• To copy user friendly concepts from the world of consumer software to enterprise users. (What if Instagram would have used drop down menus?)

• To make it even better because they can (“duplicate” is so much clearer than “save as”)

On an app-by-app basis this might be a good decision. The new user interface is definitely better than the one that originated in the 1990s on one of the first releases of Windows.

But there is a problem for the enterprise user: all applications start to look different. Wonder what would happen if car manufacturers start switching around the pedals and other basic inputs of vehicles…

Also, the use settings of a consumer and enterprise application are different. Fixing the numbers or details in an annual report or contract is different from posting your latest story.

SlideMagic has a radically different user interface when it comes to designing slides, but the basic file management controls are pretty traditional.

Photo by Marten Newhall on Unsplash