Design Thinking Archives - Microsoft Design

Design Thinking

Unsolicited advice to my younger designer self

What I wish I’d known starting out as a designer in big tech.

A digital artwork showcases a 3D grid of cubes with a reflective surface, enhanced by AI-driven design. The cubes form a tunnel-like perspective, with gradients of yellow and purple crafting an abstract, futuristic ambiance. Small droplets or bubbles float throughout the scene.

AI - Design Thinking

Design Systems for the AI Era

How we’re building the tools to build the future

Inclusive Design - Design Thinking - UX/UI

Inclusive Design’s next wave breaks for mental health

Our toolkit for designing with cognitive diversity extends into wellbeing

Illustration of a cityscape blending urban and countryside elements. Depicts tall buildings, houses, trees, a wheelchair user, people working at desks, a bus, farm fields, and various technological icons on a dark background with a white line drawing style.

Inclusive Design - Design Thinking - Hardware

When designing for the disabled, fit is the finish

A one-size-fits-one toolkit for designing inclusive hardware

AI - Design Thinking - UX/UI

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

The design thinking behind a new website building experience

AI - Design Thinking - UX/UI

Behind the design: Meet Copilot

When the system is the product; on crafting the next generation of user experiences

Visual Design - Design Thinking - UX/UI

Microsoft Loop and the future of collaborative experiences

The design thinking and user research that turned into Microsoft Loop

A simple, cartoon illustration of a mammoth with tusks and green-tinted fur standing on a patch of rocks, drawn in a sketched style on a white background.

Sustainability - Design Thinking

Leave no trace Part II

How sustainable design practices can digitally reduce our carbon footprint.

The image features the text "Design Week '22" in stylized, colorful letters on a light purple background. The word "Design" is in purple with a green dot inside the "D," while "Week '22" is in pink and orange hues.

Visual Design - Design Thinking

Microsoft Design Week 2022: 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.

Sustainability - Design Thinking

Leave no trace

How product designers can break from the status quo and help our planet

A man wearing a virtual reality headset stands on a barren, polluted landscape with smoke-emitting factories in the background. Through the VR headset, he sees a vibrant, futuristic cityscape with clear skies, advanced buildings, and a sailboat on calm water.

Sustainability - Design Thinking

Digital = Physical

Green Design Principles that every designer can use to combat climate change

AI - Design Thinking - UX/UI

Slowing down to speed up

A cross-discipline collaboration to ethically leverage AI and improve in-person shopping experiences

Abstract digital art featuring three floating, semi-transparent geometric shapes: a pinkish-red rectangle, a blue triangle, and a white square. They are stacked vertically against a light, speckled background with a flat corner on the top right.

Design Thinking - Fluent Design

Four principles for the future of design

How the Fluent Design System helps us evolve and grow better together

Two hands gently hold a glowing blue cube against a dark background. The light from the cube illuminates the hands and creates a soft blue glow around them. The image has a mysterious and futuristic feel.

Design Thinking - UX/UI

Touching holograms

How the Microsoft Mixed Reality Studios explored more immersive interactions

A minimalist embossed design on a light-colored surface with the text "ROOM TO THINK." Two concentric circles overlap the first "O" in "ROOM," giving it a unique visual effect.

Design Thinking

That’s a great idea: How to help introverts be heard in meetings

What introverts can teach us about better meeting design

Design Thinking - UX/UI

Reinventing online shopping on Microsoft Edge

Helping shoppers save time and money with an intelligent browser

A modern, digitally rendered image featuring a compass drawing geometric shapes on an open, textured black book. Various neon blue and green geometric objects and tools surround the book, creating a futuristic, mathematical aesthetic.

Inclusive Design - Design Thinking

Responsible innovation: The next wave of design thinking

Building your moral imagination to create a more ethical future

A laptop displaying a document is surrounded by six floating screens showing various apps: email, calendar, spreadsheets, slides, chat, and social media. The setting is a modern workspace with plants in the background.

Design Thinking - UX/UI

The next chapter of collaborative experiences

How we’re pushing collaborative technologies beyond the status quo

Floating screens displaying a software interface against a white background. The screens show various menu options, settings, and user forms, primarily in blue and white colors, suggesting an interface for managing and configuring system settings.

Design Thinking - UX/UI

Creation at cloud scale

How we streamlined resource creation in Microsoft Azure to improve usability, consistency, and accessibility

A speaker stands on a stage presenting during a conference. A large screen displays an image of an airplane in flight. The audience, seated in rows, attentively listens and watches. The room is dimly lit, with overhead lights and spotlights illuminating the stage.

Design Thinking - Content Design

3 Ideas for improving content strategy

Whether you’re a novice or a vet, there’s always more to learn about content strategy

Two side-by-side computer screens display a dashboard interface. The left screen shows a light-themed interface with graphs and charts, while the right screen shows the same interface in a dark theme. Both are set on a desk with office items.

Design Thinking - UX/UI

Designing for scale and complexity

How we implemented the Fluent Design System across Microsoft Azure to improve usability, consistency, and accessibility for a highly complex and evolving cloud

A collage of floating computer screens displaying various Microsoft Office applications, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Teams. The interfaces show different documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and communication threads, set against a light grey background.

Design Thinking - UX/UI

Designing for power and simplicity

How we evolved the Microsoft Office 365 user experience to support a more simple, powerful, and intelligent suite of connected products