The history of the start screen in Windows Phone 8

Live Tiles have been a much loved feature in Windows Phone since the platform launched back in 2022. Microsoft has since improved the functionality past extending the column back up from two to four, enabling more tiles to exist nowadays on-screen at any one fourth dimension. Just how did Live Tiles in Windows Phone viii come about at Microsoft?

A detailed mail on the Windows web log runs readers through the evolution and design work of Live Tiles and how the feature was improved. Josh Phillips, author of said post and who served equally programme managing director for the showtime screen redesign in Windows Telephone eight, goes into detail most how difficult and daunting it was to approach a feature that was already loved by consumers. His thoughts on kickoff seeing Live Tiles in Windows Phone 7:

"I was hooked: My phone, it seemed, cared about the same people I did."

Making the start screen more personal was a challenge, and to get information technology just right was essential for Windows Telephone to increase its marketshare by offer consumers an intuitive and unique user feel. We'll be the offset to hold that the squad successfully accomplished their goal - the new start screen is a welcomed improvement. Should it take gone wrong, nosotros could have been looking at more problems on Microsoft's mobile listing.

For those who are unaware merely what Live Tiles do on Windows Phone, they supervene upon static app icons 1 is accustomed to seeing on competitor platforms (iOS, Android, etc.). Displaying useful information from within an app, Live Tiles ensure users spend less time navigating around the device only receive relevant information they need from the app itself.

Phillips goes into explain what the engineering team looked at in the previous Alive Tiles to see how and where they could implement improvements. Kickoff off the team decided to tackle adding more tiles to the start screen, enabling consumers to pin more personal content. 2d, they looked to make information technology possible to reflect the personal content they wish to pin to the start screen. And third, how the squad could make the start screen more distinctive than it already is.

Oh, and calculation more accents was on the todo list. Many more accents. If that wasn't plenty, the pointer proved rather catchy:

"That arrow, by the manner, was a tricky little guy—and provides some insight into how the software design process typically works. Initially we figured we could safely remove it. But when we began bringing real people into our usability labs to play with the redesigned Offset screen—something nosotros always do equally part of the design process to double cheque our hunches—nosotros saw that quite a few of them weren't finding the App list, which requires a quick left swipe to see."

Information technology's an interesting read that goes into item how much piece of work has gone into improving the user experience in Windows Phone 8. Exist sure to head on over to the Windows Weblog to detect out more about the process.

Source: Windows Blog

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