This is Day # 2 in the Windows 8 development article series on common tips & tricks towards developing real-world Metro apps. Over the next several weeks, you’ll see 8 articles talk about some must-do things for Windows 8 Metro app developers. Simple & to the point, with some code examples on XAML/C# stack. Here’s the indexed list for the series:
Day 1: Know the ecosystem; Start
Day 2: Layout, Navigation & Visual States
Day 3: Semantic Zoom
Day 4: Controls & Styling
Day 5: Search, Share & Settings Contracts
Day 6: Data Persistence & Application Life-Cycle Management
Day 7: Use of OData or Web Services
Day 8: Live Services integration
Day 2: Layout, Navigation & Visual States
App Layout:
So, you have the next big app idea. The real question is – will it delight the user? All Windows 8 Metro apps should and it is critically important to plan towards it. One curse for us developers is how easy it is to get started with an idea and go File->New Project in Visual Studio. As the Metro design principles stated again & again, let’s sweat the details. Pen & paper can be a wonderful companion to plan out the overall application layout. How will you slice & dice your content? Is the app content going to laid out in an information hierarchy or in a flat system? How would the app support Metro design principles & integrate with the rest of the OS?