It beats Windows Solitaire

2 May 2011

I’m too lazy to chase down the link in the wee hours of the morning, but I remember seeing a presentation by a team from Microsoft, arguing that user interface designers are too constrained by the desire to make everything easily accessible to a naive user. After all, they said, mastering a contemporary video game requires a lot of effort, and yet people are willing to pay for the opportunity to make just such an effort. They concluded that the people who design user interfaces for productivity applications should learn from the people who design video games.

And lo and behold, Microsoft Labs has released a video game to help people learn how to use Office.

• Later: Congratulations, Mr. President
• Earlier: Kingdoms of awesomeness