My blog posts are trending towards the size of my NetNewsWire entry box. Either this shows the extent to which context dictates production or its one of the finest pieces of usability engineering I’ve ever seen. Either way it demonstrates the heavy burden placed on UI engineers to get it right. This is something we’re working quite hard on at OOo, our 1.1 release will demonstrate a refinement of the current interface before we go back to basics and rethink the whole thing for 2.0. You can take a look at our current thinking with 1.1beta, released today. Redesigning a UI isn’t just about slapping a new skin on the program, in fact that’ll probably make things worse. You need to work at an architectural level with the programmers and optimise the experience as a whole. That’s what we’re aiming at and we want your help, programmer or otherwise, I’ll have more to say on this later. And in six more words I’m out.