The online office suite and interaction and visual interface design

Yes! My teacher marked my test-thesis with an A! She found it “well-founded”, “good to read” with a “good structure”. Good, I’m ready for the real thing: my bachelor’s thesis that I have to finish somewhere in June next year and will be about e-learning and interaction design (sounds still a little vague, but I still have to refine this subject). Here’s the translated conclusion of my test-thesis (it was written in dutch).

Conclusion; my answer on the research question “to what extent is interaction and visual interface design(ivid) a factor in the commercial battle fot the online office suite?”
Computers, and the applications running on it, are a huge factor in our daily life. Because of the rise of Internet you can get in contact with everyone in the world, and from every spot have acces to the same data. Through the rise of web 2.0 techniques and ideas, there is at the moment a change going on from offline to to rich online applications.

To determine to what extent visual interface and interaction design is a factor in the battle for the online office, it is good first to determine what other factors could be.
First and most important factor when putting a product on the market is to create value for the customer. That seems very logical, but often a lack of value the reason why products bite the dust after a while. The office already proved to have value, since the applications are used by many people worldwide. It seems a logical step, now that the Internet through the web 2.0 ideas has more opportunities, to move these applications online. Still you see that it is not that simple, that companies like Google and Microsoft realize that office applications require a whole new design, that it has to be build up from the ground. That they are waiting so long before the release a complete online suite could be because of that; It is important to determine how the online service will create value for the users, more then the offline variant.

Other factors, so also ivid, are “just” ways to produce the concept. If the web 2.0 ideas are the other factors, the use of the AJAX technoligy to make rich user experiences possible is the idea that has most to do with ivid. I think the other ideas, like offering services in stead of products, users as co-developers and the web as a platform are, together with the rich user experience, links in a web 2.0 chain. Web 2.0 ideas are succesfull and will be taken in account by the office-releaser in producing the concept of the service.
The released service is as strong as its weakest link, so interaction and visual interface design are a huge factor in the battle for the online office suite:
Without a well thought-out design of the now possible rich user experience, the service will only irritate the user. It will be to slow and visual unattractive. There is a chance that users will revert to their good old offline office or change over to a competitor who’s service works more efficient and user-friendly.

If all of the above-mentioned works, succes is still not garranteed. “Old” marketing elements, like branding, corporate identity and a good introduction of your service also have to be right. And: Who introduces a right working office the first. So with which user interface, file format storage possabilities will users get used to so they won’t change-over to a similar, maybe a little better service.

A lot of factors that are included in the battle that, without all the big players admitting, is going on. In a few years we will know which company is truly the winner, and what has become of it’s service concerning interaction and visual interface design.