User Review of MS Project 2007

Here’s a review of MS Project 2007 project management software from one of our Vertabase Pro users. The review focuses on the interface of the software.

To attempt to contain complexity, MS Project 2007 introduced Ribbons — a pane that contains controls (such as buttons and icons) that are organized into a set of tabs, each one containing a grouping of relevant commands.  This type of interface replaces traditional menus and toolbars.

The Ribbon is “all about making the software do what you want to do,” as they state in their literature.  This Ribbon will also be incorporated into Microsoft Office 2007 as a main new feature “Replacing the menus and toolbars that have been the cornerstone of Office since its inception.”

While Ribbons consolidate related functionality in one place and can improve usability, they do not solve the problem of complexity. Microsoft Project will still be very complex and time consuming to learn. 

It comes down to design. They are not working from a clean apriori design. It is not targeted to a manager using a system with a team requiring a robust solution that is scalable to multiple projects and tasks but without the complexity and nuance that a professional project manager would require (and feel comfortable with).

No matter what, how the controls of a jumbo jet get automated or are easy to access it is not the right vehicle to travel from the suburbs to downtown. You will still need advanced project management expertise to create, manage and communicate projects plans in Microsoft project – even with Ribbons.

          

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 11th, 2007 at 11:01 am and is filed under Project Management Software, Software and Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.