ListBox control design guidelines for Windows Phone

[ This article is for Windows Phone 8 developers. If you’re developing for Windows 10, see the latest documentation. ]

A ListBox control presents a selection of values or items.

ListBox control

This topic contains the following sections.

Appearance and action

A ListBox control presents a fixed-sized scrolling selector of items. Users can swipe a finger vertically to scroll up or down with inertia through the items in the list. Users tap the control to select an item in the list.

When a ListBox control is scrolling, a small scroll bar appears at the right-hand side of the screen. This scroll bar is used as an indicator of the user’s relative location within the list of items.

Standard use

Use a ListBox control to preserve screen real estate when you want to present a long list of words, numbers, or visual elements from which the user is expected to choose.

Choosing the right control

Use a ListBox control when the user has to choose from eight or more items. If a ListBox control presents users with four or fewer items, replace it with grouped RadioButton controls.

A ListBox control presents its list of items vertically. If you want to present items on a list horizontally, particularly if the items are graphics or photos, consider the ScrollViewer control.

Design guidelines

Use a ListBox control for presenting a long list of options in a clean and active way, but note that a list can be too long. Consider using a table view for more than a few dozen items. Also remember to:

  • Use strong sans-serif typefaces, make list item text at least 12 pixels in height, and make sure that the text is legible from all angles and sizes.

  • Reserve illumination, effects, animations, or other ornamentation for touch feedback or selected states. Items in ListBox controls should have a strong visual reaction when users touch them.

See Also

Reference

ListBox