Design basics for Desktop applications

Note

This design guide was created for Windows 7 and has not been updated for newer versions of Windows. Much of the guidance still applies in principle, but the presentation and examples do not reflect our current design guidance.

Use these articles to help you design the user experience for your Windows desktop apps:

• How to Design a Great User Experience

  Recommendations for achieving power and simplicity through carefully balanced feature selection and presentation.

• UX checklist

  Some common mistakes and inconsistencies to watch out for in your user interface design.

(For info on designing Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps, see Design basics for UWP apps.)