Design Series

Op-Ed (07)

A soft, gradient background with a split image: left shows a large yellow sun with birds, right shows three abstract glowing figures around a flame.

Gathering around the fire: Durable human experience patterns in the AI era

OpedUX/UI Design Thinking

Bringing a humanitarian lens to the future of AI

Op-edUX Research Community

A split image: left side shows a simple clock with hands at 12 and 2; right side shows lines connecting to words, reading “Hello! I’m your digital agent,” on a blue gradient background.

Designing the first five minutes

Why onboarding matters for agent experiences – and how to get it right.

Op-edUX/UI Design Thinking

A pixelated portrait of a man is knitted on a square piece of fabric; a loose strand of yarn spirals outward on a red background.

The naked designer: What happens when you can’t hide behind craft

Matthew Santone on the changing face of design

Design ThinkingOp-ed Design Thinking

A colorful, abstract image of a human silhouette standing in the center surrounded by bright, radiating beams of light in shades of purple, blue, and white. The silhouette appears to be a blend of blue, yellow, and orange hues, giving a vibrant, ethereal feel.

Living color: Designing through synesthesia

How a Design Director’s experience with synesthesia influenced her learning in design

Op-ed Community

The em dash conspiracy: How pop culture declared war on literature’s favorite punctuation

AI, Emily Dickinson, and the War on the Em Dash

Op-ed Community

A surreal, abstract digital artwork featuring disembodied hands interacting with geometric shapes. The composition includes cylindrical and circular forms with a reflective, metallic texture on a vibrant pink and yellow gradient background.

Designing against the deaf tax

How we can flip the script on tokenism

Inclusive DesignOp-ed Community

Think First (11)

White pixelated text “Eval” is centered over a light botanical line drawing on a reddish-brown background. The words “Think” and “First” appear above and below the flower, with small white squares in each corner.

Putting the user back into AI Evaluation

Think First UX Research

Rebuilding research from the ground up

Think First UX Research

A hand-drawn illustration of five smiling adults—three men and two women—standing in front of a beige background with geometric shapes and floral designs sketched behind them.

Think First: How it started, where it’s going

Think First UX Research

A digital illustration of a smiling, bald man with glasses and a beard. Behind him are abstract geometric shapes and text: "Experimentation," "Deep Research," "Reasoning," "Thinking Companion," "Code assist," and "Reliable.

The Next-Gen Research Stack: Agents, Experimentation, and Evaluation

Think First UX Research

Co-Create, Iterate, Keep the Human at the Core

Think First UX Research

A smiling man with glasses and a beanie is illustrated against a beige background with floral patterns. Behind him are labeled diagram branches: Coding, Judgement, Human, Foundational, Quantitative, and Productivity.

Debug Faster, Think Deeper: AI for Coding and Quant Research

Think First UX Research

A smiling woman with curly hair wearing a dark turtleneck, surrounded by diagram lines labeled Framework, Expansion, Intelligence, Learning, and Curiosity, with abstract illustrations in the background.

Expanding human intelligence, not just automating tasks

Think First UX Research

A digital illustration of a woman with long dark hair, wearing a purple top. Diagram labels around her read: Task Automation, Organizational Dynamics, User Context, Knowledge, Discovery, Human Judgement. Abstract shapes fill the background.

Human-Centered Research in an AI-Driven World

Think First UX Research

A smiling woman with blonde hair stands in front of abstract diagrams and keywords like “Technical literacy,” “Rigor,” “Reframing,” “Workflow design,” “Analysis,” “Craft,” and “Velocity” on a beige background.

AI-accelerated research: Speed and scale, without compromising rigor

Think First UX Research

A digitally illustrated man with glasses is smiling. Various keywords such as “Accuracy,” “Democratization,” “Human judgement,” “Scale,” “Better Outcomes,” “Speed,” and “Automation” appear around him.

AI that removes friction and elevates human insight in research ops

Think First UX Research

A smiling person wearing glasses and a colorful floral shirt stands in front of a background with geometric shapes, flowers, and the words “Think First” in bold text.

Cutting through the noise: Leveraging AI to activate research insights

Think First UX Research

Self Portraits (05)

Self-portraits: You Zhang

A former motion storyteller turns to design systems and prototyping, using AI to sketch wireframes and make widgets feel real.

CareersCulturePeopleProfiles Community

Self-portraits: Anthony Dart

A South African artist on his graphic design journey

CareersCultureProfileTypography Community

Self-portraits: Madeline Kleiner

A UX researcher helped Copilot meet people in the flow of their work.

CareersCultureM365 CopilotUX Research Community

A colorful illustration of a bearded man with a smiling face, wearing a red shirt with patterns. The background is an abstract mix of vibrant colors. The text "Leitin Pedro" and "3D Designer" is written in a playful, white font on either side of the man.

A 3D visual designer talks designing to scale

The demanding field requires constant learning and adaptation to new technologies and tools

ProfileProfiles Community

A stylized illustration of a bearded individual with large black-framed glasses, a cigarette in their mouth, and a playful expression. The background is blue with the name "Jason Custer" written in white, bubbly letters on either side of the figure.

What does an icon designer do?

Meet Jason Custer, an icon designer on the Fluent Design System team

ProfileProfiles Community

Design Week (07)

Humanity in focus

How our AI Expression system brings ideas to life

AIDesign Thinking Craft

The sound of innovation: How audio designers are redefining digital experiences

Design Thinking Craft

Comic Sans and the art of imperfection

BrandDesign ThinkingTypography Craft

An industrial designer’s 30 year journey with Microsoft

ProfileProfilesXbox Community

A glimpse into the history of Windows design

UX/UIWindows Product

Design Week 2025: Shaping the future of design at Microsoft

Joining forces across our design community to push the boundaries of creativity and collaboration.

Design Week Community

Microsoft Design Week 2024

A comprehensive guide of what’s what for Microsoft Design Week

Inclusive DesignUX/UIVisual Design Craft