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Articles by Microsoft Design
Designing loops, not paths
How cybernetic loops are helping us turn “human in the loop” from a catchphrase into a design practice. by Matt Fick, Senior UX Architect, Business & Industry Copilot and Max Peterschmidt, Principal User Researcher, Business & Industry Copilot. Press enter or click to view image in full size Imagine driving across town during rush hour.
Vibe coding makes prototyping close to code, closer to users
Meet Quirine, a computational design manager exploring how AI reshapes the way her team builds and test ideas Quirine van Walt Meijer is a computational design manager passionate about transforming raw ideas into valuable product experiences. She has gone from designing voice agents for cars to building tools for developers in Core AI. Her background in industrial design engineering helps her think about systems, people, and the messy middle where ideas take shape.
Reimagining our front door
When was the last time you thought deeply about a sign-in screen? Probably never. And that’s kind of the point. The best authentication experiences should feel frictionless, intuitive, and almost forgettable. But crafting that invisible clarity is anything but simple. Behind every seamless sign-in or sign-up (SISU) experience lies enormous complexity, especially when you’re designing for over a billion Microsoft account users each month.
Breaking the Mold: Braz de Pina on the Evolution of Creativity and Design in this AI Era
Read the full article on our new website here. Braz De Pina is a multidisciplinary designer and creative leader with over 15 years of experience shaping brands, products, and systems across the globe. Throughout his career, he has moved seamlessly between branding, UI/UX, and product innovation. Today, he leads visual, UI, and UX initiatives for the Microsoft 365 Copilot app, helping define the intersection of AI and human-centered design.
Designs for the frontier future
The new Microsoft 365 Copilot app isn’t your typical redesign. From the introduction of net new experiences like Agents to a fresh look and feel rooted in Chat-based interactions, we reinvented our hero experience from the ground up. At its core, this reimagination sets the stage for a new era of intent-driven computing where systems begin mapping to how people think, feel, and act, rather than the other way around.
Crafting stories through motion: A conversation with Ronan McMeel
In the dynamic world where design meets storytelling, few disciplines are as captivating as motion design. It’s an art form that breathes life into ideas, blending creativity, technical finesse, and a touch of magic to captivate audiences. We sat down for a chat with Ronan McMeel, a motion designer at Microsoft, to delve into the intricacies of his role, his journey from sketching in Dublin to collaborating with global teams, and the lessons he’s learned along the way.
The em dash conspiracy: How pop culture declared war on literature’s favorite punctuation
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this essay are those of the author. They do not reflect the official policy or position of Microsoft, nor is this a factual analysis of AI detection. There’s a new panic sweeping through social media’s bustling marketplace of hot takes, and this time, it’s not about quiet quitting or blockchain resumes.
UX design for agents
Mark Weiser, the visionary behind ubiquitous computing, once said, “The most profound technologies are those that disappear. They weave themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it.” In other words, good design is invisible, allowing us to accomplish tasks and achieve our goals without technology getting in the way. As advances in AI-powered software allow us to interact with computers in new ways, good design is critical to success.
Weaving the strange: The art and alchemy of Xbox’s South of Midnight
How do you create a unique video game world that weaves players through a Southern Gothic tapestry? In South of Midnight, the new action-adventure title from Compulsion Games, you play as Hazel, a young Black woman from the American Deep South who heals the creatures that roam the land. The distinctive artistic aesthetic of this dark, magical, and handcrafted narrative landscape is imbued with light and hope.
Comic Sans and the art of imperfection
Microsoft Design · Follow Published in Microsoft Design · 5 min read · -- By Danielle McClune Read the full article on our new website here. Comic Sans is the font that refuses to die. It’s been dragged, mocked, and meme-ified since the moment it became a household name. It’s been labeled childish, lazy, and unprofessional. Designers love to hate it. And yet, here we are, decades later, still talking about it. Comic Sans is still showing up in emails, on signs, in classrooms, and in protest posters.
Humanity in Focus
Microsoft Design · Follow Published in Microsoft Design · 6 min read · -- How our AI Expression system brings ideas to life By Chris Palazzo Read the full article on our new website here. Images speak. Long before a word is read or heard, they set the tone — evoking emotion, framing context, and inviting us into a silent dialogue. Whether it’s a painting, a poster, or a passing illustration, we are always in conversation with what we see.
An industrial designer’s 30 year journey with Microsoft
Microsoft Design · Follow Published in Microsoft Design · 8 min read · -- By Jay Tan Read the full blog on our new website here. In 1995, Carl Ledbetter embarked on a transformative journey at Microsoft, beginning with the design of the next iteration of the mouse.
A glimpse into the history of Windows design
Microsoft Design · Follow Published in Microsoft Design · 9 min read · -- by Jay Tan Read the full blog on our new website here. At the turn of the millennium, the widespread adoption of Microsoft Windows was a pivotal moment in technology. It played a crucial role in the integration of personal computers into both business and home environments.
Prioritizing inclusion over convention: Rethinking how we design packaging
Microsoft Design · Follow Published in Microsoft Design · 8 min read · -- Curious about how we design inclusively? The Microsoft Packaging & Content team just released “Creating Accessible Packaging: An Inclusive Design Guide,” available for all. By Jay Tan Read the full blog on our new website here. You’ve been waiting for days, and your new headphones have finally landed on your doorstep. Brimming with excitement, you can’t wait to unbox them and dive into your favorite playlist.
Unsolicited advice to my younger designer self
Microsoft Design · Follow Published in Microsoft Design · 7 min read · -- What I wish I’d known starting out as a designer in big tech. By Diana Chun Last summer was my 3rd year working as a product designer in Microsoft. Before Microsoft, I worked as a graphic designer across a variety of different companies and thus, came in with some expectations of how long it would take me to become an “expert at my job”. I could not have been more wrong.
Embracing Vibrant Universality in Fluent Illustrations
Rethinking our illustrations to create better user experience for our customers Illustrations serve as a window into our imagination. They have the power to stir emotions, enhance experiences and spark profound thoughts. From the early days of simple clip art in Microsoft Word and PowerPoint to the sophisticated visuals available today, illustrations have enhanced and enlivened user experiences, transcending language barriers and cultural divides.
Microsoft's colorful transformation
The key to the new strategy for color was influencing how designers used color in their work. According to Seger, there was a gap between what designers needed to express and what they had to work with - namely our old tools and color palette. There was a real need for new tools to express a point of view in the right tone and manner.
Why designers shouldn't always be designers
"In five years, you'll probably be working a job that hasn't been invented yet." This quote would reverberate through the halls when I was studying journalism in Melbourne, Australia. At the time, I thought that it applied to more 'cutting-edge' disciplines, such as economics and technology, where it seems that new inventions were popping up every week.
The hidden power of typography
With the debut of Aptos, why do we need more fonts? Why not just use the default fonts and settings and get on with it? The matter may seem trivial, but typography design has a profound effect on how we perceive and process information. It can mean the difference between skepticism and persuasion, critical thinking and intuition, or creativity and boredom. Simply put, design matters, and a growing body of research backs that up.
When designing for the disabled, fit is the finish
Today, we’re releasing a new hardware toolkit to help you design products that give agency to the disabled community. Years ago, we started our inclusive design practice to identify and eliminate mismatches that create barriers for disabled people. As part of this effort, fit emerged as an important concept. We don’t believe in one-size-fits-all — instead, we strive for one-size-fits-one. As we continued our inclusive design journey, the flexibility of software inspired us.
Inclusive Design’s next wave breaks for mental health
Microsoft designers and researchers broke new ground in 2015 when we launched the Inclusive Design Toolkit. As a first of its kind, the toolkit mobilized teams across the industry. Huge strides were made in creating accessible and usable products for people with different physical abilities, such as mobility, speech, hearing, or vision. Still missing from the disability landscape, however, is something that impacts one in four people globally: mental health conditions.
Microsoft Design Week 2024: A comprehensive guide of what’s what for Microsoft Design Week
Once again, we’re inviting external audiences to preview a batch of curated talks from our largest internal design event. Here’s your guide on what’s what, the official playlist, and more. By Microsoft Design Read the full article on our new website. As we kick off 2024, we’re excited to announce we’ll once again be sharing a selection of curated talks from Microsoft Design Week.
Behind the design: A deep dive into Aptos
Read the full article on our new website. “Reading is a magical technology, the closest humans have come so far to inventing telepathy,” wrote the late great Bill Hill. He was one of the inventors of Microsoft’s ClearTypefont display technology and the former Director of Microsoft Advanced Reading Technologies. Hill said that by scratching marks on a shredded tree and using symbols to represent sounds, meanings, and ideas, we communicate across time and space.
An ethos for innovation
Read the full article on our new website. In 2012, a laptop was a laptop, and a tablet was a tablet. The form factors for both were fairly hard-coded and those wanting to innovate or enter the market iterated on the same object repeatedly. Laptops and tablets also lived in separate conceptual spheres. PCs were seen as ways to meet computing needs while seated, while tablets were designed to support people on-the-go.
Designing through synesthesia
How a design director's experience with synesthesia influenced her learning in design All illustrations by Horacio Gutierrez By Annice Jumani I'm seven-years old, sitting on the playground at elementary school, surrounded by my pint-sized peers from class. With the school's spelling bee rapidly approaching, we've taken it upon ourselves to do some prep work. One of the boys, in a flurry of false bravado, claims he can spell anything. Naturally, we opt to test his conceit.
What does an icon designer do?
Meet Jason Custer, an icon designer on the Fluent Design System team By Angela N. Bradley Jason Custer has been "drawing for money", as he calls it, on the Fluent Design team since 2016. As a designer on the team, he ultimately has touched everything Fluent Design from icons to mobile development, however most often his work has centered around personal expression with the development of Fluent Emoji. *This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Highlights from Microsoft Design Blog
Hello Microsoft Design Community 👋, We know you've been looking at the same Figma file for hours so we thought it time to give you a spark of inspiration 😁. From our latest blogs, here's a curated selection of everything from industrial design to UX articles -plus helpful resources on sustainable and inclusive design. Stay in the loop, make sure to follow us on social media and don't miss our new website, the home for all things Microsoft Design.
A change of typeface: Microsoft’s new default font has arrived
Introducing Aptos, our modern successor to Calibri By Si Daniels Dear every human on earth that’s ever typed text, For 15 years, our beloved Calibri was Microsoft’s default font and crown keeper of office communications, but as you know, our relationship has come to a natural end. We changed. The technology we use every day has changed. And so, our search of the perfect font for higher resolution screens began. The font needed to have sharpness, uniformity, and be great for display type.
A change of typeface: Microsoft’s new default font has arrived
Read the full article on our new website. Dear every human on earth that’s ever typed text, For 15 years, our beloved Calibri was Microsoft’s default font and crown keeper of office communications, but as you know, our relationship has come to a natural end. We changed. The technology we use every day has changed. And so, our search of the perfect font for higher resolution screens began. The font needed to have sharpness, uniformity, and be great for display type.
Leave No Trace Part II
How sustainable design practices can digitally reduce our carbon footprint. By Ryan Hayen Since the impact of climate change affects people differently based on their economic status and their geography, we believe the inclusive design movement Microsoft helped champion in the past decade must evolve. Looking forward, it should grow to encompass sustainable design practices and elevate them to the forefront of our industry consciousness.
Leave No Trace Part II
How sustainable design practices can digitally reduce our carbon footprint. By Ryan Hayen Original illustrations by Anna Alfut @alfutka Since the impact of climate change affects people differently based on their economic status and their geography, we believe the inclusive design movement Microsoft helped champion in the past decade must evolve. Looking forward, it should grow to encompass sustainable design practices and elevate them to the forefront of our industry consciousness.
Innovating in pursuit of the ultimate customer experience
Senior UX Engineer Kelly Gorr shares her journey of discovery and innovation By Angela N. Bradley As a Senior UX Engineer (UXE) on the Innovation and Technology team, Kelly Gorr has been innovating and collaborating across teams at Microsoft for six years. Her love for telemetry and analyzing data to continually uplevel the customer experience has guided and inspired her work across products at the company.
Humanness in remote design culture
What I learned from a year of fostering a virtual design community By Katie Garrison A good design culture can make you feel productive. A great design culture can make you feel a sense of belonging at work. It attracts new, creative talent and has huge effects on employee retention, happiness, and productivity. It's more than pep-talk posters hung on pretty corporate walls, it's humanness.
Microsoft Power Pages and the age of low-code no-code
The design thinking behind a new website building experience Guiding the designing process of Power Pages was the four customer promises. By Tracy Jones No matter the industry, every big business or enterprise is now a digital company. However, organizations face a shortage of professional developers while looking at a pipeline of millions of digital solutions that still need to be created.
Microsoft Power Pages and the age of low-code no-code
The design thinking behind a new website building experience By Tracy Jones No matter the industry, every big business or enterprise is now a digital company. However, organizations face a shortage of professional developers while looking at a pipeline of millions of digital solutions that still need to be created. This labor deficit of four million developers, coupled with the acceleration of technology advancements, has made low-code platforms a viable option.
Adoley Azu on her journey of inclusion
How a Principal Design Researcher is bridging the digital divide By Tracy Jones “I don’t usually start conversations or relationships talking about the bench or being a judge,” said Adoley Azu. Once people find out that she was a judge, they become guarded around her. “They always want to be on the right side of good,” she said. In her native country of Ghana, Adoley spent six years as a high court justice overseeing criminal, civil, and general jurisdiction cases.
Adoley Azu on her journey of inclusion
How a Principal Design Researcher is bridging the digital divide By Tracy Jones Illustration by Lamaro Smith "I don't usually start conversations or relationships talking about the bench or being a judge," said Adoley Azu. Once people find out that she was a judge, they become guarded around her. "They always want to be on the right side of good," she said. In her native country of Ghana, Adoley spent six years as a high court justice overseeing criminal, civil, and general jurisdiction cases.
UX Researcher, Amina Hassan Said Islam
Amina Hassan Said Islam, a UX researcher, sits down to talk with her colleague Harrison Maina to discuss her journey in UX research so far in Nairobi, Kenya By Microsoft Design As a global collective, over one-third of the Microsoft Design community resides outside of our United States headquarters. With the growth of our community, dedicated design centers have also expanded worldwide.
all-new Teams backgrounds
How psychology, semiotics, and dazzling imagery are converging to improve the future of hybrid work By Angela N. Bradley Physical spaces have the potential to evoke different moods and actions, whether you're inspired by the buzzy atmosphere of a coffee shop, energized by nature in a sun-kissed setting, or calmed in a dimly lit, minimalist room.
Surface Pro Signature Keyboard
By Tracy Jones When Microsoft launched a moonshot goal for Sustainability in 2030, the Surface design team began working cross-functionally to envision what supporting steps they could take in the short, medium, and long term. Closest on the horizon was the chance to investigate renewable materials that could be incorporated into device hardware to minimize waste and reduce reliance on non-renewable materials.
Behind-the-Design: Meet Copilot
By Jon Friedman and Kurtis Beavers After years of steady but incremental innovation, technologies are emerging that will generate true sea change. At first glance, large language models - the technology behind next-generation AI like OpenAI's ChatGPT or DALL-E - seem like the missing piece for the possibility of user interfaces that finally adapt themselves to humans. It's amazing, nascent, and full of possibilities.
Designing the new era of Teams
By Thad Scott and Colin Day Today marks the debut of the new Microsoft Teams app, released in public preview for Windows customers. As one of our most customer and design-driven releases ever, it's crafted from the ground up to be faster, simpler, and more flexible. It also reflects a multi-disciplinary journey of customer understanding - from redesigning channels and simplifying chats, to leveraging motion design and enhancing personalization options.
Microsoft Loop and the Future of Collaborative Experiences
By Rachel Romano and John Roach "Paradigm shift," "revolutionize the future of," and "sea change" are terms often heard in technology circles. Currently, this chorus is focused on innovation driven by large language models (LLMs) and generative AI. Earlier, it was the rise of hybrid work, the mobile revolution, the internet, WYSIWIG interfaces, and so on and so forth, right back to the invention of the personal computer more than 40 years ago.
Karthi Subbaraman
Karthi Subbaraman, a Design Group Experience Manager, sits down to talk with her colleague Rachel Romano to reflect on her journey in product making for Women's History Month By Rachel Romano In celebration of Women's History Month, we're sharing stories from our women-identifying Microsoft Design community in India. We're delighted to introduce Karthi Subbaraman, Principal Group Experience Manager, in conversation with Rachel Romano, Director of Strategy and Communications.
Design for Cognition
A new toolkit for building cognitively inclusive products By Tracy Jones, with contributions from Christina Mallon, Doug Kim, Margaret Price, and Ali Benter When we released our Inclusive Design toolkit in 2015, it was an open guide for building products that help people realize their full potential, regardless of physical ability or disability. The toolkit is based on three principles: recognize exclusion; learn from diversity; and solve for one, extend to many.
Black Bauhaus
By Tracy Jones Illustrations by artist Roche. Music production by Uncommon Nasa. Vocals by Tracy Jones After the dinosaurs, after the asteroid slammed the earth and spawned walls of water traveling faster than the speed of sound, after fire, flood, and ice, they came. As a bridge to the afterlife, they created sacred masks that channeled their ancestors. Like the head, the mask was the seat of the soul. Life and death to them were twin parts of a reflecting whole.
Meet Studio 254: Viola Bazanye
Viola Bazanye, a UX engineer, sits down to talk with her colleague Timothy Achumba to discuss her journey in design so far in Nairobi, Kenya By Microsoft Design As a global collective, over one-third of the Microsoft Design community resides outside of our United States headquarters. With the growth of our community, dedicated design centers have also expanded worldwide. This post launches a series of conversations we'll be having between folks across Africa, India, China, Latin America, and more.
Visualizing the Cloud
By Angela N. Bradley Humans are naturally visual creatures, with the ability to process images 60,000 times faster than text - which underscores the importance of designing a visual identity that communicates a brand's personality and value to its audience.
Power of the Pluriverse
How principles of radical interdependence can be applied to UX By Dimeji Onafuwa An African proverb popularized by the late author Chinua Achebe goes, “Until lions have their own historian, the story of the hunt will glorify the hunter.” — We are the lions’ historians when we listen to the often ignored and amplify the narratives of the often excluded.
A Comprehensive Guide of What's What for Microsoft Design Week
For the first time ever, we're inviting external audiences to preview a batch of curated talks from our largest internal design event. Here's your guide on what's what, the full playlist, and more. By Microsoft Design As 2022 winds down, we're excited to end the year with some special news.
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