by Krystle DiPaolo, Application Support, Rutan & Tucker LLP
I work in the IS department of a Southern California law firm. Upon arrival in January 2005, I discovered that the firm (rather shockingly) still used Office 2000. My prior employer, an international law firm, rolled out Office XP in 2002, some three years earlier. I was thoroughly involved in that deployment and therefore had preconceived (and high) expectations. However, it soon became clear that my new firm, with its older population, was wise in delaying a major desktop change. Training considerations would be paramount when introducing a new Office application. And this was a new application, not just an upgrade. It became clear we would have to move to either Office 2003 or 2007 because Office 2000 was nearing the end of its support by Microsoft.
This was an exciting and exhilarating time. The programmer who creates our customized templates, Cora, is a brilliant woman, full of ideas and positive thinking. We found ourselves enthusiastically learning this new user interface. We were both shaken and perhaps even a bit embarrassed at how little we initially understood Word 2007. It is a VERY different experience, especially for those who know Word well. I considered myself an ace, having used the product since it was initially introduced and having trained it for ten years. As part of the XP rollout, we attended Master Series classes conducted by Payne Consulting.
For some background, let’s take a look at the “History of Word” and how it has evolved over the years. For those of us who long ago mastered Word, we’ve had many years to learn and incorporate the many tools and features Microsoft has introduced over the years. There are many more functions now.
Word for Windows 1.0 (1989) had two toolbars and less than fifty menu items; Word for Windows 2.0 (1992) contained virtually the same menu as Word 2003: File, Edit, View, Insert, Format, Tools, Table, Window, Help. Microsoft Word 6.0 (1994) had eight toolbars and approximately 100 menu items; Word 95 (1995) had nine toolbars. Word 97 (1996) had 18 toolbars (remember Clippy?) and approximately 200 menu items. Word 2000 (1999) had 23 toolbars. Word 2002 (aka XP) (2001) had 30 toolbars, eight task panes. Word 2003 (2003) had 31 toolbars, 19 task panes and over 250 menu items.
Microsoft began building Office 2007 in 2003; it was released to manufacturing in 2006. There was a belief that the old interface had failed its users, who believed it was too complicated and felt it took too much time to locate commands. Research found that users were taking advantage of very few of the features available in Office (they estimated only five percent of these functions were utilized).
When introducing Office 2007, the goal was to make the experience fun and to bring back the “soul” of the software. Many new concepts were launched: Live Preview, a feature which immediately reflects changes to your document, being the most dynamic, in my opinion. I believe using this feature reduces trial and error. Other new features include the Ribbon, Galleries, Contextual Tabs, Quick Access Toolbar, Mini Toolbar, Live Zoom, Customizable Status Bar, Key Tips, and Context Menus. There seems to be more emphasis on graphics and pictures. The Picture Toolbar offers brightness, contrast and recoloring tools. I will not go into the pros and cons of all of the new features here. My opinion continues to evolve as the software becomes more familiar. Additionally, because our templates are extremely customized, some of my grievances may be misplaced. I must admit, however, that at times it seems inordinately difficult to find functions that were formerly “right there!” As time goes by, Microsoft has made their on-line training much more available and user-friendly. I recently visited the Microsoft website for research and stumbled upon great resources for free Office training. If only it had been available a few years earlier!
Cora and I had another perplexing issue to deal with during this learning period: we had to learn Windows Vista. Along with upgrading to Office 2007, the build included the Vista operating system due to requirements of software used by the firm. During our testing and exploration, we had many puzzling moments: trying to understand new concepts, experiencing great frustration when not understanding. And who do you to turn to when you’re among the first to adopt? (I love the term “early adopter” but think there may be a better label out there; perhaps, crazy!) There wasn’t much available on the internet and I must admit my frustration with Microsoft Help – it was not helpful. There seemed to be entire topics not covered in the Help function. Worse, we found errors in the Help answers. It truly was a case of trial and error and many long nights and weekends. We spent a few months just getting to know the software and experimenting with our templates and document management software.
A suggestion to anyone undertaking this sort of effort: recruit your user community. As mentioned earlier, we have an older population. This group is very set in its ways and we often heard, “Well, that’s how we’ve always done it.” When given an opportunity to weigh in with comments and suggestions, they seem to open themselves up to new ideas and methods. We met on a semi-monthly basis with lunch (always a good motivator), questions and small tasks. Spirited conversations and a sense of camaraderie and purpose grew from these meetings. I think being part of the “team” was a wonderful incentive for the participants. And they produced terrific suggestions. As we progressed with our build, the group tested relentlessly without complaint. I must admit to being very pleasantly surprised.
It would be great to say everything went perfectly. If only that were the case. We’ve all heard the saying “Word never fails to perplex.” It is absolutely true. When testing Word with modified templates and our document management software, the inevitable errors occurred. At times, simple programming changes cured the problem. Other errors required intense research and testing. As additional add-ins were pulled into the mix, we would see new problems. Wash, rinse, repeat as needed. The piles of notes and paper nearly overwhelmed my desk (and home).
It took us roughly a year to complete the deployment to approximately 275 users in our two offices. We continue to offer training in follow-up sessions, employing outside consultants to make desk side visits for several months in conjunction with our in-house Trainer and Help Desk support. We are approaching eighteen months since the first group completed training. The overall impression now is that this was a successful adoption with few residual Word issues. Several of the software developers I work with have commented that we remain among the few to have moved to Office 2007 and Vista, which makes me proud and somewhat incredulous.
I was recently invited to review the Technical Release of Office 10. Stay tuned!
About the author
Application Support Lead for Southern California general practice law firm; formerly IT Manager, Pillsbury Winthrop, Orange County; fifteen+ years Information Technology (training, application and network support); litigation paralegal, eight years (Lead Paralegal, Cross-Defendant Coordinating Committee for the Big Rock Landslide case in Los Angeles (1987-1989, 1990-1991)). Co-founder, Adfax Advertising, London, England, 1989-1990. U.C.L.A., Pre-Med; Paralegal Studies, U.C.L.A., 1975. Microsoft Certified Application Specialist.
