Tracy Jones Archives - Microsoft Design

A green cutting mat with 3D letters, numbers, and symbols in white; surrounding papers show typeface samples and color swatches. The word "Calibri" is printed on the mat.

Craft

From paper to pixels: The evolution of ClearType and onscreen reading

How we made digital text like printed words on paper

Design Thinking UX/UI

Product

Weaving the strange: The art and alchemy of Xbox’s South of Midnight

Exploring the art, worldbuilding, and folklore-inspired design process

Design Thinking Xbox

Graphic with bold, stylized text reading "Content Designers" and a subtitle "The unsung heroes of design." Additional smaller text notes the role of former English majors in technology and design. Features abstract shapes and a checkmark symbol.

Craft

Content Designers: The unsung heroes of design

Why former English majors will become the epicenter of technology & design.

Content Design Design Thinking

Community

How a senior game designer turned gaming into a career

Kristine Golus, the woman behind Xbox’s home editorial experience

Community Profile Xbox

A grid of 14 yellow emojis with various expressions, including laughing, crying with joy, winking, and blowing a kiss. The background is a vibrant pink and purple gradient. One emoji has a halo, and another appears to be sending a virtual hug.

Craft

Bringing new emoji to Windows 11

A look at how we designed a new dimension of expression

Windows Fluent Design

Community

A canvas of community narratives

Xbox celebrates a year of visual storytelling by launching new dynamic backgrounds

Xbox

Craft

In the age of AI, will content designers become extinct?

Senior Content Designer Jenny Williams talks about her role, and working with AI

AI Profile Content Design

Product

Microsoft Power Pages and the age of low-code no-code

The design thinking behind a new website building experience

AI Design Thinking Microsoft Power Pages UX/UI

Illustration of a bright white light exploding from the center surrounded by radiating beams in yellow, orange, and white. The background features abstract, dark arches and swirling patterns in navy blue and purple hues.

Community

Black bauhaus

How Black and African art and culture shaped design as we know it

Op-ed Inclusive Design

A green keyboard cover featuring a full QWERTY layout with function keys and a touchpad at the bottom. The keys include a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols, along with control keys such as shift, caps lock, tab, and function keys labeled from F1 to F12.

Product

Behind-the-design: Surface pro signature keyboard

Collaborating with Alcantara to integrate renewable materials into Surface Pro Signature Keyboard

Surface

A colorful illustration of a smiling woman with short black hair, labeled as a "Principal Design Researcher." The background features abstract patterns and silhouettes of people in vibrant shades of pink, blue, and purple.

Craft

Adoley Azu on her journey of inclusion

How a Principal Design Researcher is bridging the digital divide

Inclusive Design Profile Profiles

Close-up photo of a man's face with a colorful, rainbow gradient background and geometric font. Text on the image reads, "Maurice Woods, He/Him, A Principal Designer @Microsoft.

Community

Maurice Woods: Changing the world through design

How a Microsoft designer uses activism to bring the Black experience to the forefront at work and beyond.

Profile Profiles

A pile of brightly colored plastic rock climbing holds, mainly in purple, orange, and white, scattered on a gray surface. The holds vary in shape and size, designed for different types of climbing grips.

Craft

The making of Microsoft adaptive accessories

How we’re designing assisted devices to give everyone access to the future.

Hardware Inclusive Design

Inspiration

Latinx & hispanics in tech

A video featuring the lives and contributions of Latinx & Hispanic designers at Microsoft.

Inclusive Design Video

A cute, fluffy green monster with large, round eyes and thick blue eyebrows on a purple background. The monster's fur appears soft and fuzzy, giving it a friendly and whimsical appearance.

Craft

The Feelings Monster, building a character with all the feels

On designing for mental health and the power of emotionally safe spaces

UX/UI

Bold black text reading "BIT!!" is centered over a gradient background that transitions from red at the bottom to green at the top.

Inspiration

Blacks in tech

A mini-documentary on the lives and contributions of Blacks at Microsoft

Inclusive Design Video

Colorful burst of various LGBTQ+ pride flags radiate from the center, where the word "PRIDE" is written in bold letters. The image includes a heart symbol and a small rocket in opposite corners.

Product

Pride has no borders

Behind the designs of our 2022 Pride campaign, from the new Xbox controller to fresh creations in Teams & Outlook

Inclusive Design Xbox

A child with curly hair and wearing brown clothes stands, raising their hand towards the sky. They face an ethereal cityscape filled with tall, pointed towers under a large white moon. The background is a soft blue. A small orange ball lies near the child's feet.

Community

Raised by an afrofuturist

The first in a series of personal essays that brings to life the rich perspectives of the design community at Microsoft

Op-ed