Better Contact Forms

[Blue Max]

We really like the new organization of the Windows Vista contact information
in WINDOWS MAIL! While not perfect, it is clear and concise, including tabs
logically segregating information by summary, personal, home, work, family,
notes, etcetera. I would suggest that Microsoft consider an equally
well-designed format for Outlook 2007 contacts. While the new Outlook 2007
ribbon is a great tool, it can also complicate certain visual tasks! In
Outlook 2007 the contact information or data, even though grouped in the
'Show' section, is still visually obscured amidst dozens of other unrelated
tasks. Worse yet, the 'Show' group is entirely hidden, and not even
immediately accessible, if one of the other ribbon tabs, such as 'Insert' or
'Format Text', are selected.

As such, WINDOWS MAIL really provides the better interface for facilitating
immediate, intuitive access to contact information! We would recommend that
Microsoft redesign the contact window so that the actual contact information
could be displayed below the ribbon, with its own set of tabs, as is done in
WINDOWS MAIL. This would provide the user with improved access to contact
information, which should be the focal point of the contact feature,
regardless of the tab selected on the ribbon. Furthermore, the ability to
add, delete, move, or customize any tab displaying contact information,
would allow the user to custom tailor the design to meet their exacting
personal preferences!

At very least, the contact information could be reorganized into logical
groups, much like WINDOWS MAIL, with individual buttons in the 'Show'
section of the ribbon for summary, personal, home, work, family, notes,
etcetera. While this does not overcome the problem of accessing information
when other ribbon tabs are displayed, it does provide a more logical
presentation of the contact information. Either way, the current
non-descript presentation of contact information in either a 'General' or
'Details' section, is pretty poor.

 

[Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]]

You do realize of course, that Window's Mail is designed for the home user and Outlook for the corporate user? As such, they have different targets with vastly different needs and should not duplicate functions.

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.

After furious head scratching, Blue Max asked:

| We really like the new organization of the Windows Vista contact
| information in WINDOWS MAIL! While not perfect, it is clear and
| concise, including tabs logically segregating information by summary,
| personal, home, work, family, notes, etcetera. I would suggest that
| Microsoft consider an equally well-designed format for Outlook 2007
| contacts. While the new Outlook 2007 ribbon is a great tool, it can
| also complicate certain visual tasks! In Outlook 2007 the contact
| information or data, even though grouped in the 'Show' section, is
| still visually obscured amidst dozens of other unrelated tasks.
| Worse yet, the 'Show' group is entirely hidden, and not even
| immediately accessible, if one of the other ribbon tabs, such as
| 'Insert' or 'Format Text', are selected.
|
| As such, WINDOWS MAIL really provides the better interface for
| facilitating immediate, intuitive access to contact information! We
| would recommend that Microsoft redesign the contact window so that
| the actual contact information could be displayed below the ribbon,
| with its own set of tabs, as is done in WINDOWS MAIL. This would
| provide the user with improved access to contact information, which
| should be the focal point of the contact feature, regardless of the
| tab selected on the ribbon. Furthermore, the ability to add, delete,
| move, or customize any tab displaying contact information, would
| allow the user to custom tailor the design to meet their exacting
| personal preferences!
|
| At very least, the contact information could be reorganized into
| logical groups, much like WINDOWS MAIL, with individual buttons in
| the 'Show' section of the ribbon for summary, personal, home, work,
| family, notes, etcetera. While this does not overcome the problem of
| accessing information when other ribbon tabs are displayed, it does
| provide a more logical presentation of the contact information.
| Either way, the current non-descript presentation of contact
| information in either a 'General' or 'Details' section, is pretty
| poor.

 

[Blue Max]

Hello Milly,

We appreciate your viewpoint, but have taken a different perspective. While
the use of the information may differ for business and home users, the basic
information collected is often the same. As a corporation, we collect
business information, personal information, and family information, for both
our clients and employees, just as a home user does. This is also evident
in that Windows Contacts (home users) and Outlook 2007 (corporate users)
both provide default fields for collecting much of the same information,
including both personal and business information.

Nevertheless, our suggested enhancement was directed more to the heart of
the method of organization, rather than the content. While the user is free
to customize the presentation of the content as they see fit, we
congratulate the developers for their overall approach to organizing the
data in Windows Contacts. The information is better organized and more
accessible using the tabbed interface than it is in Outlook.

Thanks for your input.

******************************
"Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]"
You do realize of course, that Window's Mail is designed for the home user
and Outlook for the corporate user? As such, they have different targets
with vastly different needs and should not duplicate functions.

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.

After furious head scratching, Blue Max asked:

| We really like the new organization of the Windows Vista contact
| information in WINDOWS MAIL! While not perfect, it is clear and
| concise, including tabs logically segregating information by summary,
| personal, home, work, family, notes, etcetera. I would suggest that
| Microsoft consider an equally well-designed format for Outlook 2007
| contacts. While the new Outlook 2007 ribbon is a great tool, it can
| also complicate certain visual tasks! In Outlook 2007 the contact
| information or data, even though grouped in the 'Show' section, is
| still visually obscured amidst dozens of other unrelated tasks.
| Worse yet, the 'Show' group is entirely hidden, and not even
| immediately accessible, if one of the other ribbon tabs, such as
| 'Insert' or 'Format Text', are selected.
|
| As such, WINDOWS MAIL really provides the better interface for
| facilitating immediate, intuitive access to contact information! We
| would recommend that Microsoft redesign the contact window so that
| the actual contact information could be displayed below the ribbon,
| with its own set of tabs, as is done in WINDOWS MAIL. This would
| provide the user with improved access to contact information, which
| should be the focal point of the contact feature, regardless of the
| tab selected on the ribbon. Furthermore, the ability to add, delete,
| move, or customize any tab displaying contact information, would
| allow the user to custom tailor the design to meet their exacting
| personal preferences!
|
| At very least, the contact information could be reorganized into
| logical groups, much like WINDOWS MAIL, with individual buttons in
| the 'Show' section of the ribbon for summary, personal, home, work,
| family, notes, etcetera. While this does not overcome the problem of
| accessing information when other ribbon tabs are displayed, it does
| provide a more logical presentation of the contact information.
| Either way, the current non-descript presentation of contact
| information in either a 'General' or 'Details' section, is pretty
| poor.