Microsoft Surface

Touch innovation

The Microsoft Surface touch table team provided the exciting challenge of developing an entirely new touch language based on the principles of natural user interface design. As leader of the user experience team, I collaborated with Microsoft Research Labs scientists to define touch gestures that became the foundation of the interaction model.

Working closely with the user research team, I established an iterative process of prototyping and testing to create intuitive user experiences tailored specifically to a touch interface. Once these interactions were refined, I expanded the paradigms to include physical objects on the screen and interactions with smart objects like phones. This comprehensive set of interactions formed a cohesive touch language that became the foundation of the user experience for the new touch table form factor.

Designing a new language

The Surface touch table introduced a novel form factor that required an entirely new user experience. To inspire out-of-the-box thinking, I led an ideation process to define innovative interaction metaphors. Collaborating with the user research team, we tested these metaphors to determine which resonated most effectively with users.

Building on the selected metaphor, my team developed user interaction paradigms tailored specifically to the touch table form factor. We refined these paradigms by creating prototypes and iterating on the designs through in-depth user testing, ultimately delivering a user experience optimized for this novel platform.

A meticulously designed user interface

Based on interaction paradigms and user testing, my team developed a detailed touch-first user interface for the Surface OS, making multi-user interaction, self-revealing gestures for intuitive learning, and visual presentation a central focus.

An inspiring vision

As with many of the innovative environments I’ve worked in, the Surface team operated in a rapidly changing environment, which at times presented challenges for the team. To help unify the team around a common goal, I translated the abstract business strategy into a tangible user experience that became the de-facto vision for Microsoft Surface. This vision inspired and motivated the engineering and product management teams while bridging the gap between research, leadership, and engineering. It provided the team with a clear direction and a shared objective to work toward, ensuring alignment and focus.

Surface Vision Prototype

Well-crafted design artifacts established the design team as key drivers of the product vision. This prototype played a pivotal role in shifting the Surface team’s culture toward being more design-driven by presenting an inspirational vision for the Surface touch table, which included interactive physical objects.