Worst User Interface

About Microsoft Word

Word, a component of Microsoft Office, is the most popular word processor in the world. It was designed to help unskilled users to edit documents, but actually the poor interface requires users to learn many Word skills to master it. Many people stay away from LaTeX, thinking that it is hard to learn. In fact, when using LaTeX, if you know what you are doing, you will get exactly what you want; but as for Word, you will never know what it will render.

Why the Interface is Bad

Slow Response

I have not used Word for a long time, so I do not know how the latest Word version is, but Word 2010 always takes nearly half a minute to open. And it feels like a decade. What is worse, sometimes it stops responding, and would take another decade to come back, or eventually crash...

Unintelligent Intelligence

Microsoft Word will automatically format the headings, numbered lists, etc. It aims to simplify editing and save users' time. However, the default format usually does not fit users' demand, and needs to be cancelled manually. So the truth is, users have to decline the AutoFormat, and then customize the format. This process also needs some "skills" or "tricks", to prevent Word do the auto-formating once again. The worst, which can drive users mad, is that after editing somewhere, all former contents go back to the default format again! Finally users realize that it is not time-saving at all.

Poor Compatibility

Since Microsoft Office is not free, we should not expect every PC has Word installed. But Word files is not well compatible with other software like LibreOffice and OpenOffice. Moreover, different versions of Word are also not entirely compatible. Thus it is not convenient for multiple users editing one file. In addition, poor compatibility with other extensions always causes Word to crash. Once I was asked to write a thesis in Word. I used MathType to insert several equations, and used EndNote for adding references. Then it became a disaster. I cannot remember how many times it went to crash. In fact that is the first time I realize how important to have backup files...

How Could It Have Been Made Better

The most important one is to simplify its functions and menu.

Why It Turned out the Way It Did

Microsoft has talented engineers and cutting edge technologies, but it does not focus on user experience. Therefore its products always do not meet what customers want.