Microsoft® Visual Studio® 2010 Unleashed

Understanding the Role of UI Standards

Applications must also strive to adhere to any relevant standards associated with their look and feel. Some standards are documented for you by the platform “owner.” Microsoft, for example, has a set of UI design guidelines documented within MSDN. The book Microsoft Windows User Experience, published by Microsoft Press, is included in its entirety within MSDN. By tackling topics such as “Data-Centered Design,” “Input Basics,” and “Design of Graphic Images,” this book provides a structured baseline of UI design collateral for Windows application developers.

Design guidelines and UI standards are often specific to a given platform. The current look and feel expected from a Windows application trace primarily ...