Metro is a design language created by Microsoft originally for Windows Phone to emphasize typography over graphics. Key principles include putting content first, relying on animation and motion, and focusing on large text for quick comprehension. Inspired by public transit signage, Metro aims to be sleek, modern, and a refresh from icon-based interfaces. It was later applied to additional Microsoft products and platforms like Windows 8 to consolidate common tasks and favor larger interactive hubs over smaller buttons through lateral scrolling and exclusion of unnecessary visuals.

1. Metro Design Language
By Prashant Tiwari
Metro is an internal code name of a typography-based
Clean, Light, Open, Fast
design language created by Microsoft, originally for
use in Windows Phone. A key design principle of Metro Typography
is better focus on the content of applications, relying
Alive In Motion
more on typography and less on graphics ("content
before chrome"). Early uses of the Metro principles Content, Not Chrome
began as early as Microsoft Encarta 95 and MSN 2.0,
and later evolved into Windows Media Center and Zune. Later the principles of Metro were
included in Windows Phone, Microsoft's website, the Xbox 360 dashboard update, and
Windows 8
Microsoft's design team says that the design language is partly inspired by signs commonly
found at public transport systems; for instance, those found on the King County Metro transit
system, which serves the greater
DESIGNED TO BE "SLEEK, QUICK, MODERN" Seattle area where Microsoft is
AND A "REFRESH" FROM THE ICON-BASED headquartered. The design
language places emphasis on good
INTERFACES.
typography and has large text that
catches the eye. Microsoft says that
the design language is designed to be "sleek, quick, modern" and a "refresh" from the icon-
based interfaces of Windows, Android, and iOS. All instances use fonts based on the Segoe
font family designed by Steve Matteson at Agfa Monotype and licensed to Microsoft. For the
Zune, Microsoft created a custom version called Zegoe UI, and for Windows Phone, Microsoft
created the "Segoe WP" font family. The fonts mostly differ only in minor details. More obvious
differences between Segoe UI and Segoe WP are apparent in their respective numerical
characters. The Segoe UI in Windows 8 had an obvious differences as being similar to Segoe
WP. Notable characters had a typographic changes of the characters 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, I, and Q.
The new Windows 8 Start Screen, making use of flat, colored live tiles and a laterally scrolling
canvas as used in Windows Phone and Xbox 360 Dashboard.

2. F IGURE 1: W INDOWS 8 S TART S CREEN
The design language was designed specifically to consolidate groups of common tasks to
speed up usage. This is accomplished by excluding superfluous graphics and instead relying
on the actual content to also function as the main UI. The resulting interfaces favor larger hubs
over smaller buttons and often feature laterally scrolling canvases. Page titles are usually large
and consequently also take advantage of lateral scrolling.
Animation plays a large part, with transitions, and user
interactions such as presses or swipes recommended to
always be acknowledged by some form of natural
animation or motion. This is intended to give the user
the impression that the UI is "alive" and responsive, with
"an added sense of depth. “ Internally, Microsoft has
compiled a list of principles as core to the design
language.
Close to the official launch date of Windows 8 (October
26, 2012), more developers and Microsoft partners
started working on creating new Metro applications, and
many websites with resources related to this topic have
been created, as well as the Microsoft's UX guidelines for
Windows Store Apps. Early response to Metro was
F IGURE 2: W INDOWS P HONE 8 S TART S CREEN generally positive. In a review of the Zune HD, Engadget
said, "Microsoft continues its push towards big, big
typography here, providing a sophisticated, neatly designed layout that's almost as functional

3. as it is attractive." CNET complimented the design language, saying, "It’s a bit more daring and
informal than the tight, sterile icon grids and Rolodex menus of the iPhone and iPod Touch."
The Industrial Designers Society of America (IDEA) awarded Windows Phone, which uses the
UI, the "People's Choice Design" gold award as well as the "Best in Show" award. Isabel Ancona,
the User Experience Consultant at IDEA, explained why Windows Phone won this award and
explains the user experience of Metro:
While the Metro-style interface introduced in Windows 8 was designed to be user-friendly on
tablets, it is less accommodating for
THE INNOVATION HERE IS THE FLUIDITY OF a desktop, and less customizable
EXPERIENCE AND FOCUS ON THE DATA, than its predecessors. Users have
WITHOUT USING TRADITIONAL USER particularly disapproved of the
removal of the Windows Start menu
INTERFACE CONVENTIONS OF WINDOWS
that users are acclimated to as it has
AND FRAMES. DATA BECOMES THE VISUAL
been featured in all versions of
ELEMENTS AND CONTROLS. SIMPLE Windows since Windows 95. In
GESTURES AND TRANSITIONS GUIDE THE previous versions of Windows, the
USER DEEPER INTO CONTENT. A TRULY Start menu provided a more
ELEGANT AND UNIQUE EXPERIENCE. convenient way for novice and
experienced users alike to launch
programs and applications. Some
reviews argue that Microsoft's decision to ditch Aero is the result of a conscious effort to reduce
usage of system GPU resources and to prolong battery life, in order to target tablet market
rather than its traditional desktop user base. In addition to removing the Start Menu, Windows
8 takes a more modal approach with its use of full-screen apps that steer away from reliance
on the icon-based desktop interface. In doing so; however, Microsoft has shifted its focus away
from multitasking and business productivity.