UX Battle: Google Docs Vs. MS Word

Nussi Einhorn
3
min
UX Battle: Google Docs Vs. MS Word

When we hear the words "word processors," we immediately think of these two: MS Word and Google Doc. They are surely the top word processing tools today, as they have always been.

We're not going to argue with that. They have these amazing features that are extremely useful. Feature? Perfect! But what about the UX?

Below are the stories we have from last week, and they show how users are affected by the complexities of these tools.

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Margin trouble!

Brad was laid off from his job of 15 years. 😞

He's now trying to get back on his feet,

and found this job posting that's perfect for him. Β πŸ’ͺ

He was asked to submit his resume πŸ“œ and portfolio in the form of a Google Doc.

And so he did.

Brad was not tech-savvy πŸ™…β€β™‚οΈ, but he was feeling hopeful and excited as he prepared his document.

He wanted to make it as aesthetically pleasing as possible to show off his credentials.

He wanted to format it a certain way, so he made adjustments. πŸ‘¨β€πŸ’»

He tried to change the margin, but he couldn't find πŸ‘€ the option in any of the formatting features on the page.

He checked each button πŸ‘€, but there was still no margin.

Where could it be? πŸ˜–πŸ˜–

He was getting stressed out when his wife Sally came in and saw him. πŸ’β€β™€οΈ

Sally instructed him to go to File, and at the bottom of the drop-down menu is the page setup.

He clicked on it, and presto! πŸ₯³ There's the field where he could edit the margin.

Why can't it be more visible? He thought to himself.

Brad was already on edge after being laid off.

You can imagine how he felt 😞 as he tried to complete these documents so he could return to work.

Being stressed out over a tool was the last thing he needed.

This could have been a better experience, especially for Brad πŸ‘¨β€πŸ’»

if important formatting features had been placed in a more visible πŸ‘ location.

Why not place it on the page's main editing section for easier access?

A good UX is important. πŸ‘Œ

We must think about the overall UX journey of the people who use our software.

Make the users happy!

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How to do it, Boss?

Bob got a new job! Yay! 🀩

He's working remotely πŸ‘¨β€πŸ’» as an executive assistant for this company.

One of his first tasks involved data entry. MS Word is the tool he's been asked to use.

Bob was assigned to work on some texts and was ☝️ instructed to double the spacing between each line.

The problem was that he's not very familiar with MS Word.

He considered himself a casual user of the software. πŸ€¦β€β™‚οΈ

He didn't know how to do this.

Where did he need to go? What button should he click?

He had no idea. πŸ€·β€β™‚οΈ

He looked 🧐 in the toolbar at the top but couldn't find this spacing option.

Bob was overwhelmed and spent several minutes staring 😳 at the computer screen.

Poor Bob. This was very embarrassing for him. πŸ₯Ί

As a new employee, all he wanted to do was prove his skills and impress his employer.

But MS Word proved to be so complicated 🦾 for him.

He could have finished his work πŸ‘Œ much faster if he had known

that he could simply click πŸ–±οΈ the right button of his mouse and in the paragraph button,

he could adjust the spacing.

Sometimes developers are so focused πŸ‘€ on making their app the best in the world

that they include everything.

Of course, having more features is great! πŸ‘

The only time it becomes a problem and defeats its usefulness

is when it becomes overly complicated. πŸ™‡β€β™‚οΈ It's far too much of users like Bob.

Why not add these most-used buttons and features to the main toolbar,

where users can easily spot them? πŸ‘πŸ‘

This is why good UX is important, and this is where we can help!

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Poll this week

As you can see in the image below, between the two word processors, the majority of the respondents chose Google Docs as the easier tool to use.

What about you? Do you agree?

Link to the poll: Click here

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Each piece of software has its own set of complexities, especially if it includes a number of extremely useful features.

They say you can't have the best of both worlds, but we at Intent UX believe users can have at least a better version of the other.

For questions about how we can help you get the friendliest software, reach out to us!

Click the link below!

https://www.intentux.com/lp/ux-audit

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