Windows 10: Developer Experiences and Partner Engagements
My first role at Microsoft was on the Windows 10 Developer Experience & Partner Engagement team. I created high-quality UWP sample apps for third parties and drove the story for the 2016 Microsoft Build design lounge. From there, I had the opportunity to work alongside key partners to help them design experiences for Windows. Notable partnerships included Intel, Apple, IBM, and SAP.
Intel: IoT Panda
Bamboo is the first Windows 10 IoT Core robot running on the Intel Joule and was announced at the 2016 Intel Developer Forum. Bamboo is a companion robotic panda that can help parents of children with diabetes. It allows parents to set reminders remotely and reminds children to check their sugar levels using Speech to Text. In addition to the parents setting reminders, Bamboo uses sentiment analysis to detect mood swings and urge the child to check their levels right then.
For this project, I drove the overall concept, design of the panda (which was then 3D modeled by a 12 year old), and designed the pairing UWP app.
A Brief History of Microsoft Design
In January 2016, I joined Microsoft all bright-eyed and ready to design incredible experiences for third-party developers. When I was told my first project was to create the Microsoft Design timeline for our developer conference. I would be lying if I said I was ecstatic. But as I engaged in the project, and continuously learned about the rich history, I realized Iād been given a valuable, fascinating first assignment. This resulted in a successful conference presence and medium article.
Apple: iTunes to Windows 10
As part of the Apple and Microsoft partnership, I participated in a multi-day workshop with the iTunes design & engineering team. Apple was very interested in getting iTunes into the Windows Store. During the event, I collaborated 1:1 with the iTunes UX Design lead and we:
Built comps of how to blend the personality of iTunes with that of Windows 10 without losing its soul
Began exploring how to remove/replace/refactor the menu bar at the top of iTunes
Looked at features of Windows 10 that would be natural for iTunes to leverage (live tiles, lock screen, etc.)