Microsoft
Microsoft Corp. is counting on Larson-Green, its head of “Windows Experience,” to deliver an operating system that delights the worlds PC users as much as its last effort, Vista, disappointed them. Shes in charge of a wide swath of the system, from the way buttons and menus work to getting the software out in January as scheduled.
Given Microsofts history, Larson-Greens plan seems downright revolutionary: Build an operating system that doesnt require people to take computer classes or master thick manuals.
“We want to reduce the amount of thinking about the software that they have to do, so that they can concentrate all their thinking on the task theyre trying to get done,” Larson-Green said in an interview.
Microsoft relies on Windows for half its profit, which helps fuel money-losing operations like the pursuit of Google Inc. online. Windows was still profitable after Vistas 2007 launch, but its poor reception dinged the software makers reputation at a critical time. Vista was designed for powerful, pricier PCs just as nimble rivals like Google were releasing Web-based programs that could run on inexpensive computers. Microsoft appeared to be clinging to an endangered world order that spawned its operating system monopoly.
Whats more, Vistas initial incompatibility with many existing programs and devices, and its pestering security warnings, exposed Microsoft to ridicule in Apple Inc. commercials that helped Macintosh computers gain market share. Businesses didnt give up Windows, but many delayed upgrading to Vista.
Microsofts executives have since distanced themselves from Vista, acknowledging its flaws. Now the company needs Windows 7 to widen that distance even more.
You probably dont know her name, but if youre using Office 2007, the sleeper hit of the Vista era, youre already familiar with Larson-Greens work. She was the one who banished the familiar system of menus on Word, Excel and other programs in favor of a new “ribbon” that shows different options at different times, depending on what a user is working on. It seemed risky, but it was grounded in mountains of data showing how people used the software.
Focusing on real customers might seem obvious, but Microsofts programs more often have reflected the will of techie insiders.
One reason is that Windows dominance relies heavily on third-party software developers who keep churning out compelling new programs. To give those developers as many options as possible for reaching PC users, over the years Windows spawned confusingly redundant features. For example, you can tweak antivirus software settings by opening the program; by clicking on shortcuts from the desktop, task bar or “Start” menu; by responding to notifications that pop up uninvited from the bottom-right corner of the screen; or by poking around in a control panel.
Another bit of dysfunction stemmed from Microsofts corporate structure. Windows employs thousands of people divided into groups that focus on search, security, networking, printing – the list goes on. With Vista and earlier versions, each group built the best solutions for its isolated goals. For example, two separate groups added similar-looking search boxes to Vistas control panels and its Start menu. Yet typing the same query into both boxes produced completely different results.
Larson-Green, a 16-year Microsoft veteran, grew up in tiny Maple Falls, Wash., about 100 miles north of the software makers headquarters in Redmond. She waited tables to put herself through Western Washington University, then took a job in 1987 answering customer support calls at Aldus, a pioneering software company in Seattle.
During six years at Aldus, Larson-Green worked her way into software development and earned a masters in computer science on the side. But she credits her waitressing and customer-service work for making her good at her current job.
Larson-Green, 47, is engaging and eager in person – to the point that in one interview, she couldnt keep from repeatedly interrupting her boss, Steven Sinofsky, as he sketched the history of Windows. But while giving product demos on stage, she lacks the showmans panache that a surprising number of Microsoft employees display. At a developer conference last year, she seemed nervous as she showed off Windows 7s new features.
Later, she explained that as a woman, she worried that honing the softer skills of marketing might prompt colleagues to take her less seriously as a technologist. Larson-Green has spent her Microsoft career working deeply on many Microsoft programs, including the Internet Explorer Web browser.
When she landed in the Office software group a few years ago, Larson-Green was dubious that much could be done to improve the software, which dominates the market for “productivity” programs.
“I felt like it had been that way for a long time, (and) everyone was pretty happy with it,” she said.
Yet customers werent quite as happy with Office as they might have thought.