Microsoft Store

Overview

For my work on the Microsoft Store I was primarily in a visual designer role, collaborating with design, engineering, and marketing. The Microsoft Store is the first-party app store for Windows devices, and functions as a major e-commerce platform offering apps, movies, music, and TV to over 1 billion active users.

Context

My work was part of an overall effort to support renewed investment in the Microsoft Store and build positive perception of its utility and content for customers. Beyond that, there were additional efforts such as assisting and encouraging Windows developers to create compelling material and grow their business within the store.

The new Microsoft Store

The old Microsoft Store had been widely criticized for years for being a poor experience for both users and developers. For Windows 11, there was a major overhaul of the store, with a new design, new features, more apps, and a new focus on quality and curation. The redesign was generally well received; however, the visuals did not support the new direction and were inconsistent with Microsoft’s Windows 11 expressive branding.

Spotlight

At the start of my work with the store, the main project that I worked on was the spotlight imagery. The Spotlight is a section with a large hero image that appears at the top of the Microsoft Store home page and at the top of each section of the Store. The spotlight image is a key visual element that helps to showcase the app and attract user attention.

Format

Spotlight had a few unique challenges. The first was that the imagery is obstructed by the store UI from multiple sides. Each slide displays for approximately 7 seconds before cycling to the next. While working on the assets, I collaborated with the store marketing team as well as the Store design team to create visuals that support partner goals, keeping assets versatile and consistent with Microsoft’s branding.

Windows 365

Overview

Windows 365 is a new app and service that essentially functions as a remote computer running full Windows, so a person can configure whatever power they need. It also allows for security and flexibility. For instance, someone could log in and use any device they wanted for work. The Windows 365 team had a fair amount of existing visual and branding work that had been done through an outside agency, Studio Tendril. The work had been well received.

Existing Windows 365 visuals

Windows 365 was a new product, but the Windows 365 team had some initial visual and branding work that had been done through an outside agency, Studio Tendril. The work had been well received. It featured a few interesting elements: blocks that abstractly represent selecting a computer configuration, and a glimmering network like lights in a fog of blue.

Objectives and Goals

The Windows 365 team had a couple of needs, primarily branding content for their first major release and for Build, Microsoft’s major annual developer conference. The updated visuals would also be featured in the Microsoft Store and other planned material.

Context

Windows 365 was an interesting case in how its audience was defined. While technically a wide consumer offering, its pricing and features were much more business oriented. They were also in a way not an app in the traditional sense. The app was Windows itself, and only a minimal UI was used to invoke/initialize the Windows Cloud PC which is functionally just Windows 11. They also had a product that was in some ways similar to hardware. For example, when you buy a plan you choose the computer’s specs as far as CPU, RAM, and SSD. That customization is a large part of the value proposition.

Treatment

For the final imagery I focused on a setting-focused treatment that felt inviting but still reflected the professional, work-specific use case. The UI/interface is often used as a key part of storytelling for digital products. However, for Windows 365 the use case is more general and the UI is less central to the experience, so representing the setting made more sense. While front and center, the device is fairly minimal; its being a tablet supports the cloud computing use case. Also supporting the message was a selection of Microsoft productivity apps.

My work was part of an overall effort to support renewed investment in the Microsoft Store and build positive perception of its utility and content for customers. Beyond that, there were additional efforts such as assisting and encouraging Windows developers to create compelling material and grow their business within the store.

PC Game Pass

The PC Game Pass page was made as part of an ongoing effort of expanding the Microsoft Store offerings to include more editorial content. For this project the Store team collaborated with the Xbox team as part of an effort to increase awareness of the service. In this, I worked with other design and engineering colleagues to create a bespoke animation. The planned goal was for this to be a starting point where we could make similar pages with additional partners.

Scroll-based animations were a new addition to the Store, so there was a lot of back and forth nailing down the final treatment that aligned with the format and constraints.