UX/UI Archives - Microsoft Design

Visual Design - UX/UI - Fluent Design

Embracing vibrant universality in Fluent illustrations

Rethinking our illustrations to create better experiences for our customers.

A tablet and smartphone display a design interface on screens, with a colorful and creative backdrop. The tablet's screen shows design categories and a search bar, while the smartphone displays assorted design templates. Objects around the devices enhance the artistic theme.

AI - Visual Design - UX/UI

AI-Powered Creativity with Microsoft Designer

How we made a visual design tool for everybody

Visual Design - UX/UI

Redefining productivity with Outlook

Our design journey to redefine Outlook for Windows through craftsmanship, intelligence, and personalization.

A still life composition featuring various 3D-rendered letters and shapes in white and red. The scene is illuminated dramatically with light and shadow, and a translucent fabric drapes softly over part of the display. The setting is minimalist and artistic.

UX/UI - Content Design

The hidden power of typography

The science behind how design choices influence perception and behavior

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

Inclusive Design - Visual Design - UX/UI

Microsoft Design Week 2024

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

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.

UX/UI - Fluent Design

Bringing new emoji to Windows 11

A look at how we designed a new dimension of expression

Scenic coastal landscape with rocky cliffs beside a turquoise ocean under a partly cloudy sky. Large green text in the center reads "Aptos™." Labels "Aptos Narrow" and "Aptos Variable" appear at the top left and top right, respectively.

UX/UI - Content Design - Brand

A change of typeface: Microsoft’s new default font has arrived

Introducing Aptos, our modern successor to Calibri

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

Visual Design - UX/UI

Designing the new era of Teams

A multi-year design journey to rearchitect Teams from the ground up

UX/UI

Designing a new Outlook experience

Our design journey to modernize Outlook

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.

Visual Design - UX/UI

The Feelings Monster, building a character with all the feels

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

A grid of various 3D emojis on a light-colored background, featuring hand gestures, people dancing, hearts, balloons, musical notes, magnifying glasses, sun and moon icons, and other symbols. A large 3D yellow-haired dancer with a red dress stands out in the center.

Visual Design - UX/UI - Fluent Design

Designing in the open(source)

Why we’re excited to freely share our emoji for you to remix

AI - Design Thinking - UX/UI

Slowing down to speed up

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

UX/UI - Fluent Design

An emoji for your thoughts

Why we refreshed our 1800+ emoji to support the new landscape of work

UX/UI

Windows 11: Designing the next generation

Leveraging customer insights and empathy to create for a billion people.

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

Grid of 24 colorful squares, each featuring different typographic elements, including letters (uppercase and lowercase), numbers, and various fonts. The colors range from soft pastels to vibrant hues, showcasing diverse design styles and text textures.

UX/UI - Brand

Beyond Calibri: Finding Microsoft’s next default font

We’ve commissioned five new custom fonts–which should become our next default?

"A serene background with soft pastel colors and abstract shapes. The word 'Give' is prominently displayed in white text with a heart symbol above the 'i'. Below, a search bar contains the text 'The search that gives back' and a magnifying glass icon.

UX/UI - Brand

Give with Microsoft Bing

How your web searches empower everyday giving

Design Thinking - UX/UI

Reinventing online shopping on Microsoft Edge

Helping shoppers save time and money with an intelligent browser

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

A person with short light blue hair stands against a gradient purple and blue background, looking at their smartphone, which emits a glow.

Visual Design - UX/UI

Designing dark mode

How we’re crafting Dark Mode experiences across Microsoft 365 that adapt to your daily flow

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

UX/UI - Iconography

Redesigning the Office app icons to embrace a new world of work

Design is becoming the heart and soul of Office. Learn how we evolved our visual identity to reflect the simple, powerful, and intelligent experiences of Office 365.

Abstract illustration depicting a contrast between a light and dark theme. The left side features light, simplified software icons, while the right side displays a darker, more complex data visualization with graphs, cubes, and interconnected networks.

UX/UI

A cloud for everyone

Tailoring complex experiences for every user level

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

A screenshot of an email application on a Windows operating system. The screen displays the inbox, sent items, drafts, and multiple project folders on the left. The main window shows an open email with the subject "Catching up" and an image of a person with long hair.

UX/UI

Digital design is never done: Evolving Windows 10 mail and calendar

How our team made fan-loved functionality more Fluent