Table Of ContentDESIGNING FOR
WINDOWS 8
Brent Schooley
Schooley
Designing for Windows 8
Copyright © 2013 by Brent Schooley
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To my parents, who always made me believe
anything is possible
Contents
About the Author. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .vii
About the Technical Reviewerr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ix
Acknowledgments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xi
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xiii
Chapter 1: Microsoft Design Style Inspirations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Chapter 2: Microsoft Design Style Principles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Chapter 3: Design Strategies for Windows 8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Chapter 4: Basic Building Blocks of Windows 8 Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Chapter 5: Windows 8 Platform Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Chapter 6: Bringing Existing Apps to Windows 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
About the Author
Brent Schooley is a Technical Evangelist for
Infragistics with a focus on mobile platforms. He
has been working with Microsoft technologies
since 2004. His interests include client- and
mobile-application development and user-
experience design, with a recent emphasis on
Windows 8 and Windows Phone. With keen
attention to detail and strong technical and
design crossover skills, Brent has always been
able to relate to both designers and developers
to help them achieve their goals.
About the Technical
Reviewer
Alejandro Toledo is an Experience Program
Manager and Developerrr.He recently cofounded
a boutique design studio with his brother
Arturo, providing experience architecture,
user-interface design, and design-education
services.Alejandro is also a polyglot involved in
an ongoing study of multiple languages spoken
around the world. Possessed of an inquisitive
mind, Alejandro enjoys spending time with
designers and developers, helping them to
produce the best possible apps for Windows
and Windows Phone. He draws inspiration and
energy from his wife and young daughterrr.
Acknowledgments
First and foremost, I must thank my colleagues at Infragistics for the guidance
and support they have provided throughout this process. In particular, many
thanks go to Ambrose Little and George Abraham for helping to shape the
original presentation content that inspired this book. This book also wouldn’t
have been possible without my fantastic boss, Jason Beres, allowing me some
time during the workweek to dedicate to the book. I also want to thank my
CEO, Dean Guida, for fostering an environment where creativity can truly
shine. Thank you also to Nick Landry, Dara Monasch, and Bill Hazard for
providing much needed support throughout this process.
I also want to acknowledge the various attendees of user groups, code camps,
and conferences where I presented my “Designing for Windows 8” session.
The questions asked and comments made during these sessions helped shape
the material in this book. The energy and enthusiasm all of you showed for
this topic helped keep me motivated to complete this book.
Many thanks go to my wonderful family—everyone from my parents and
grandparents to aunts, uncles, and cousins. All of you have been very supportive,
and I couldn’t have finished this without that support!
Finally, I want to thank my wonderful editorial staff at Apress. Big thanks go to
Gwenan Spearing for seeking me out as a writer for this topic. This is my first
book, and Gwenan had faith in my ability to write about this subject. Christine
Ricketts has done a fantastic job of helping me through the editorial process.
Ben Renow-Clarke’s help in focusing and restructuring the early portions of
the book made the end product much more approachable and understandable
than I had originally envisioned. Everyone involved in the process has been
very understanding concerning the various delays encountered. Thank you
for your faith in me and for helping me reach the finish line.
Introduction
Windows 8 offers exciting new opportunities for developers and designers.
Microsoft has created a platform for touch-first applications that features
a clean design language inspired by major design movements.. This marks
the first time that design is paramount in creating Windows applications.
This can be a challenge for Windows developers who may not have had to
concern themselves with design before. If you are going to build Windows
Store applications, you will have to understand the fundamentals of designing
for the platform.. Designing for Windows 8 has been written to help both
developers and designers understand what is necessary to create well-
designed applications for Windows 8.
The book is divided roughly into two parts.. The first three chapters introduce
design fundamentals and strategies..Chapter 1 provides some insight into the
design inspirations that helped shape the design language used in Windows
Store application development.. Chapter 2 introduces the design principles
that will help guide your design process.. Chapter 3 provides some design
strategies that will help you keep your design focused.. The final three chapters
provide practical information on how to design your application..Chapter 4
introduces the basic building blocks of Windows Store applications and
discusses some styling tips for each.. Chapter 5 provides information specific
to the Windows 8 platform that you need to keep in mind as you build your
application.. Chapter 6 brings everything together and shows how to bring
applications from other platforms to Windows 8.
The reference application for this book, Running Total, is available from
http://bit.ly/runningtotal.. This post describes how to get the application
up and running and walks through how the application works.. The app is
still evolving, so I have also created a GitHub project for the application at
https://github.com/brentschooley/Running-Total.. Both options for getting
Running Total include a beta of Infragistics NetAdvantage for Windows
UI controls.
C H A P T E R
1
Microsoft
Design Style
Inspirations
In order to truly understand something, it is often important to understand
where it originated. This is especially true of design-related topics. Almost
everything designed today has roots somewhere in the past. The Microsoft
Design Style is no exception. There are three major design influences that
contributed to the formation of this design language: Bauhaus (and the related
Modern Design Movement), International Typographic Style (also known as
Swiss Design Style), and cinematography (and the related discipline motion
design). Each of these had an impact on the creation of the design language
that has been used in products such as Zune, Xbox 360, Windows Phone, and
now Windows 8.
In this chapter, I’ll briefly introduce the three major design influences on
Windows 8 design style and the Windows 8 design concepts that were based
on these influences. This knowledge is the foundation you’ll need to under-
stand why certain decisions were made in Windows 8 application design and
why they are so vital to the design of your application. Also, to make sure it is
perfectly clear why these points are so important, I will offer you an example
for each one, using the sample application “Running Total.” In Chapter 2, I will
tie these concepts to the Microsoft Design Style Principles that are critical to
the success of your Windows 8 application design.
