Designing brilliance starts with a plan
Design principles
Pride in craftsmanship
Devote time and energy to small things that many will see often. Engineer the experience to be complete and polished at every stage.
Be fast and fluid
Let people interact directly with content and respond to actions quickly with matching energy. Bring life to the experience, create a sense of continuity, and tell a story through meaningful use of motion.
Authentically digital
Take full advantage of the digital medium. Remove physical boundaries to create experiences that are more efficient and effortless than reality. Design with bold, vibrant and crisp colors and images that go beyond the limits of real world material.
Do more with less
Create a clean and purposeful experience by leaving only the most relevant elements on screen. Let people be immersed in what they love and they will explore the rest.
Win as one
Work together with other apps, devices, and the system to complete scenarios for people. Fit into the UI model to reduce redundancy. Take advantage of what people already know to provide a sense of familiarity, control, and confidence.
Early design decisions
How will my app make money?
Choose a business model that works for you, such as free apps with ads, limited-time trial apps, or in-app purchases.
Will my app pass certification?
Know the requirements up front and design a quality app
that passes Windows Store certification with ease.
Will my app use a network?
Let your app display Internet content, interact with devices, and access the cloud, all with a seamless network experience.
What form factors will my app support?
Slates. Desktops. Laptops.
Design apps that feel at home on any surface.
Inspiration
Games
Make your games come alive. Use sensors for rotating, tilting, and steering. Play with touch interaction for an immersive experience. Design beautiful screens and intuitive navigation that engages your users.
LOB apps
Design apps that streamline your line of business workflows and give users a modern, natural way to work.
News
Tell your stories with beautiful images, clean design, well-placed text, and intuitive controls. Highlight breaking news. Let users share stories. Update live tiles with the latest headlines.
Productivity
Design apps that are efficient at finding files and sharing content, that are easy to navigate, and that can either use all the space on the screen or happily share the space with another app.
Entertainment apps
Create a top-notch experience for listening to music or viewing videos by designing intuitive navigation, commands, and interactions.
Design guidance
Commands
Choose to place commands in the top or bottom app bar, on the right or left of the app bar, on the canvas, or in charms.
Touch
Learn about swipe, slide, zoom, tap, and other elements of the Windows 8 touch language that are common to every app.
Views
Design your app to look great on any device, on any size screen, when flipped to portrait, or in snapped or fill views.
Branding
Infuse your app with your brand. Let your brand express who you are and what you want to be known for.
Advertising
Integrate ads that complement your app design, look great in all view states, and adhere to the certification requirements.
Design downloads
PSD templates
Essential PSD assets including templates, common controls, layouts, and components such as contracts, notifications, and tiles.
Download the PSD templates
(47.9 MB)
Balsamiq templates
Windows 8 mockups to use for wireframes including tiles, charms, app bars, menus, keyboards, and devices.
Design Requirements
Checklist
Know what is required for Windows Store certification, what is required to meet UX guidelines, and what is recommended to improve the user experience. Check your app against the list of must-have design elements.
Index
The index of UX guidelines lists all the requirements and recommendations for user experience design. It is grouped by categories, such as Controls, Touch interaction, and Snapping and scaling.
