Microsoft Store Redesign
Microsoft Launch Event
The Microsoft Store on Windows is the trusted place to discover the experiences on Windows device. The Stores app comes pre-installed on Windows 10 and 11 devices. With this new release, the Microsoft Store will have UWP apps and Android apps added to the portfolio.
Background
The Microsoft Store have become less engaging over time, engagement numbers have dropped year over year. Users have issues finding what they are looking for and are overwhelmed when they use the Microsoft Store app.
Problem
I was the main designer for the homepage and to create spotlight modules and cards templates that would permeate through out different pages of the Store.
Role
User feedback & design audit
Users told us they often can’t find what they need in the Store. They also feel overwhelmed and close the app after only a few minutes.
I started by auditing the existing design to pinpoint usability issues that could be contributing to low engagement. The landing page showed too many cards and spotlights at once. I also found cropped visuals in the spotlight headers, visual inconsistencies, tightly packed cards that were hard to parse, mismatched card backgrounds, and multiple, inconsistent ways to reach more card options..
Design principle
The design direction of the spotlight module was to accommodate multiple spotlights/banners/promos. It should be flexible and able to roam across various pages. There should be more hierarchy between placements. Most important of all, i was to reduce the feel of clutter and visual overload for the user.
Spotlight module
The design direction for the cards were to be adaptable to multiple different content type, i.e. games, apps, movies & TVs. I reduced the amount of cards per row to reduce visual clutter. Simplified overall meta data on the cards and keep the card height consistent across each row to reduce eye travel.
Cards template
Customized module design
I have designed the card and spotlight modules that allowed our content team to customize the layout of the page to cater to different region users in the future. The cards and promotions can be placed in different positions interchangeably without needing to redesign each category.
Proposed designs
Home page design
Compare old vs new
Featured games page
Featured apps page