Here’s how visual cues impact the effectiveness of Universal Windows Apps

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Published onApril 8, 2016

published onApril 8, 2016

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The Windows team has just publishedthe next postin a series of best practices in designing Universal Windows Apps (UWA), and this time, it’s about designing visual cues.

Specifically, the Windows team looks at the generals of visual cues before diving deeper into how they can inform users of possible interactions, as well as guiding them to do transactions. One of the rules being emphasized is that visual cue should never distract users from the main content. They also need to be easy to understand, visible, and eye-catching.

Visual cues help your user to quickly understand what is happening in your app and to see what is important and what is not.

Similar to real-world objects, visual cues should also communicate well what they do and how they can be interacted with. The specific kind of visual cues that instruct people on these interactions are called “affordances”. These mostly come in the form of contextual changes to visual cues. According to famed designer Don Norman, two things matter in affordance design: whether they can be readily perceived and interpreted, and whether the desired action can be discovered.

Call-to-actions (CTA), on the other hand, are used to guide users towards transactions, by inviting them to give information, urging them to act, and offering an opportunity. These are often seen in free-to-play games and apps that rely heavily on ads and in-app-purchases. Some oft-used elements in CTAs are contrasting colors, noticeable difference in scale, larger fonts, and noticeable margins. Nevertheless, they should not be jarring and frustrating to look at.

All in all, the post presents fascinating and useful guidelines on making your apps not just attractive, but also usable and effective. While the Windows team’s intention is obviously geared towards UWA builders, these guidelines should work for any developer who wants their apps to be as effortless to users as possible.

Image credits: The Windows Blog

Radu Tyrsina

Radu Tyrsina has been a Windows fan ever since he got his first PC, a Pentium III (a monster at that time).

For most of the kids of his age, the Internet was an amazing way to play and communicate with others, but he was deeply impressed by the flow of information and how easily you can find anything on the web.

Prior to founding Windows Report, this particular curiosity about digital content enabled him to grow a number of sites that helped hundreds of millions reach faster the answer they’re looking for.

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Radu Tyrsina

With KB5043178 to Release Preview Channel, Microsoft advises Windows 11 users to plug in when the battery is low#

Copilot in Outlook will generate personalized themes for you to customize the app#

Microsoft will raise the price of its 365 Suite to include AI capabilities#

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Here’s how visual cues impact the effectiveness of Universal Windows Apps#

With KB5043178 to Release Preview Channel, Microsoft advises Windows 11 users to plug in when the battery is low

Copilot in Outlook will generate personalized themes for you to customize the app

Microsoft will raise the price of its 365 Suite to include AI capabilities

Death Stranding Director’s Cut is now Xbox X|S at a huge discount

Outlook will let users create custom account icons so they can tell their accounts apart easier

Here’s how visual cues impact the effectiveness of Universal Windows Apps