Fluent Design System

The Calendar application in Windows 10, showing aspects of Fluent Design, such as acrylic, and thinner window borders.
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Fluent Design System (codenamed Project Neon)[1], officially unveiled as Microsoft Fluent Design System,[2] is a design language developed in 2017 by Microsoft. Fluent Design is a revamp of Microsoft Design Language 2 that includes guidelines for the designs and interactions used within software designed for all Windows 10 devices and platforms. The system is based on five key components: Light, Depth, Motion, Material, and Scale.[3] The new design language includes more prominent use of motion, depth, and translucency effects.[4]

The transition to Fluent is a long-term project; preliminary aspects of the design (particularly the "Acrylic" translucency effects, and "reveal" effects on buttons) have been incorporated into Windows 10, particularly within the "Fall Creators Update" released in October 2017, as well as an update to the Xbox One system software released alongside it. More aspects of Fluent will be introduced to Windows over time.[5][6][7][8]

Current applications of Fluent

Light

Reveal highlight

The purpose of light is to draw attention and illuminate information. Upon hovering, the Reveal highlight illuminates nearby hidden borders on objects such as hamburger navigation menu lists and buttons. Upon selection, such as by clicking or tapping, a white circular illumination effect quickly appears.[9] Additionally, in the Windows Holographic environment, a rounded white pointer exists.

On 6 November 2017, Microsoft Employee David Haz stated that plans to apply the reveal highlight to the taskbar exist—and it is now implemented occurred.[10]

Reveal focus

Focusable items with border glow via the focus visual.[11]

Depth

The addition of depth utilizes the z-axis and allows for content differentiation via layering. Depth is presented via drop shadows and Z-depth layering.[12][13]

Motion

Motion establishes a relationship between UI elements and provides a continuity in experience.[14]

Add/delete animations

List animations for inserting and removing items from a collection.[15]

Connected animations

Connected animations are item transitions. During a content change, an element appears to continue by flying across the app.[16]

Content transition

Used when only a portion of content on a page will change.[17]

Drill[18][19]

Fade

Fade-in and fade-out to bring into and dismiss items from view.[20]

Parallax

Parallax moves objects at different rates. The background moves slower than the content above it. For example, a list will scroll faster than the background image, creating a depth effect in addition to motion.[21]

Press feedback

When an item is pressed, it momentarily recedes into the background and then restores to its original position. Examples of press feedback include the Start menu live tiles, Action Center quick actions, and Microsoft Edge address bar buttons.[22]

Material

Acrylic

The Acrylic material creates a translucent, blurred effect with a slight noise effect. A visual hierarchy can be created by using different opacities. For example, in an app, primary content surfaces are often opaque (with the exception of widgets or lightweight apps such as Calculator), a secondary pane can have 80% background Acrylic, and the tertiary pane can have 60% background Acrylic. Background Acrylic blurs all items behind the active Acrylic material. In-app Acrylic blurs content within the app.

Acrylic is disabled in a specific window when the app is no longer selected. Both types of Acrylic are disabled system-wide when transparency is disabled, when Battery saver mode is enabled, or on low-end hardware. Background Acrylic is disabled when a window is de-selected or on Windows 10 Mobile, HoloLens, or tablet mode.[23]

Scale

Apps scale across different form factors, display sizes, and 0D to 3D. Elements adapt to their screen size and are available across multiple dimensions.[24][25] Conscious controls are also categorized within Scale (e.g. scrollbars and inputs that adapt to different methods of invocation)[26][27]

Undetermined

Relation to previous iterations

Fluent's key principles, or "blocks" (Light, Depth, Motion, Material, and Scale) turn away from the flat concept Metro had defined, and while preserving the clean look and feel Metro introduced, Fluent renews the visuals of Aero, a design approach that was introduced in Windows Vista and Windows 7, including blurred translucency, parallax animated patterns, drop shadow, highlight effects following mouse pointer or input gesture movements, and "faux materials" Metro once dumped.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Fluent Design is Microsoft's new modern UI for Windows and more". The Verge. 2017-05-11. Retrieved 2017-05-11.
  2. ^ "Windows Developer on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2017-05-11.
  3. ^ ""Fluent Design Language"". Microsoft. Retrieved 2017-05-12.
  4. ^ "New Windows look and feel, Neon, is officially the "Microsoft Fluent Design System"". Ars Technica. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  5. ^ "Microsoft shows off its Fluent Design changes to Windows 10". The Verge. Retrieved 2017-10-29.
  6. ^ "Microsoft's Fluent Design System threatens to make Windows look good". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2017-10-29.
  7. ^ "A major new Xbox One update overhauls the dashboard with Fluent Design". The Verge. Retrieved 2017-10-29.
  8. ^ "The Xbox One is getting a major update today, including a faster dashboard". The Verge. Retrieved 2017-10-29.
  9. ^ mijacobs. "Reveal highlight - UWP app developer". docs.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
  10. ^ https://www.windowscentral.com/whats-new-start-menu-windows-10-may-2019-update
  11. ^ cphilippona. "Reveal focus - UWP app developer". docs.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2018-03-30.
  12. ^ "Microsoft shows off 'Z-depth layering' 3D feature in its Fluent Design System". Windows Central. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
  13. ^ "Microsoft Reveal Z-Depth Layering for Windows 10 Mixed Reality Devices". VRFocus. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
  14. ^ mijacobs. "Motion and animation in UWP apps - UWP app developer". docs.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
  15. ^ mijacobs. "Motion and animation in UWP apps - UWP app developer". docs.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2018-03-30.
  16. ^ mijacobs. "Connected animation - UWP app developer". docs.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2017-12-31.
  17. ^ mijacobs. "Motion and animation in UWP apps - UWP app developer". docs.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2018-03-30.
  18. ^ mijacobs. "Motion and animation in UWP apps - UWP app developer". docs.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2018-03-30.
  19. ^ wdg-dev-content. "DrillInThemeAnimation Class (Windows.UI.Xaml.Media.Animation) - UWP app developer". docs.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2018-03-30.
  20. ^ mijacobs. "Motion and animation in UWP apps - UWP app developer". docs.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2018-03-30.
  21. ^ mijacobs. "How to use the ParallaxView control to add depth and movement to your app. - UWP app developer". docs.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
  22. ^ mijacobs. "Pointer click animations in UWP apps - UWP app developer". docs.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2017-12-31.
  23. ^ mijacobs. "Acrylic material - UWP app developer". docs.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
  24. ^ "Fluent Design System". fluent.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2018-02-18.
  25. ^ Verma, Adarsh (2017-05-12). "What Is Fluent Design System? How Is Microsoft Building The Most Beautiful Operating System?". Fossbytes. Retrieved 2018-02-18.
  26. ^ muhsinking. "Scroll viewer controls - UWP app developer". docs.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
  27. ^ "What's new with Microsoft Fluent Design System 'wave one' for Windows 10". Windows Central. 2017-06-29. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
  28. ^ "Spatial sound design". developer.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2017-12-22.

External links