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A user interface is the first thing people notice of your software, web page or whatever application you create. Even if your software works perfectly, you need to make sure the User Interface works correctly too. We’re going to check a couple ofUI bloopers Microsoft has failed to fix, lets just hope this doesn’t happen in Windows 7.

The latest version of Windows, Windows Vista, despite all the problems regarding its robustness, has managed to create a user friendly interface. Still, some areas of the OS still seem to be part of Windows 95. When you check Disk Properties you get a really bad looking chart, with colors which doesn’t match the colors palette from Windows Vista. This is quite unpleasant for the user, since it takes out of context the look and feel of the user interface.

This is not the only place where this happens. If we check the Help and Support panel, we find a non consistent theme. Users complain it doesn’t belong to the theme, and by taking out this unity, navigation gets more complicated.

This also happens with the color editor, which not only its out to date but doesn’t support the most populars color models such as CMYK, or Hexadecimal codification. Itdefinitely needs a better look, specially because it’s a part of the software oriented to graphics and design.

However, UI mistakes can also affect user performance. That’s the case of the Permission Editor, which has several pop up dialogs which makes the process quite difficult. Users might get lost sometimes, and can also have a hard time following up so many dialog windows.

Now, with Windows 7 coming up, Microsoft hasn’t taken the time to fix this UI gaps. Maintaining a unity in a user interface is as important as creating a robust software. Remember that everything enters through the eyes, and a good communication between the user and the software is one of the keys of success.

To look at more of this UI mistakes, visit Windows UX Taskforce.