windows phone 8 - 2 designing wp8 applications

Oliver Scheer

Senior Technical Evangelist

Microsoft Deutschland

http://the-oliver.com

Designing Windows Phone Applications

AgendaDesigning Windows Phone Applications

In this and the next module, we will go through the essential techniques you need to build an application

In this module:• Windows Design Language• Designing an App• Introduction to XAML Layout• Styles and Themes• Design Time Data• Data Binding• Lists and the LongListSelector

04/12/2023Microsoft confidential3

Windows Phone Design

4

The Windows Phone Design Style

• The Windows Phone team have taken a lot of trouble

over the look and feel of the phone

• They have created a design style, inspired by

metropolitan signage, to express this

• Programs on the phone should reflect this style

Windows Design Principles

Principle: Pride in craftsmanship

Take care of the details

Make it safe and reliableUncompromising Sensitivity to Weight, Balance and Scale

Align to the grid

Principle: Be fast and fluid

Life is mobile

Delight with motion

Design for touch

Intuitive interaction

Be responsive and ready

Immersive and compelling

Principle: Do more with less

Be great at something

Focused and direct

Content before chrome

Inspire confidence

Principle: Authentically Digital

Don’t Try to be What It’s NOT

Cloud connected

Dynamic and alive

Beautiful use of typography

Bold vibrant colours

Motion

Principle: Win as one

Fit into the UI model

Reduce redundancy

Work together to complete scenarios

Tools and templates are designed to scale

Principles

Pride in craftsmanshipBe Fast and FluidWin as OneDo More with LessAuthentically Digital

13

Windows Phone 8 SDK and the Windows Phone Design Style• To make life easier for us the Windows Phone design style is “baked in” to the

developer tools

• The default appearance, behaviour and fonts of the user elements all match the style

• If you want to find out more about the Windows Phone Design Style you can read the

“User Experience Design Guidelines for Windows Phone”

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/

hh202915.aspx

Designing an App

04/12/202314


Design on Paper Before You Touch the Tools!

12:38

Tex

t

Tex

t

Tex

t

Tex

t

CONTOSO COOKBOOK

regions

12:38

Text

CONTOSO COOKBOOK

indian recCONTOSO COOKBOOK

recipes ind

pivot

Tex

t

Tex

t

Tex

t

Tex

t

12:38Contoso Cookbook

Shows recipes grouped by regional style. User can view recipes, also add pictures and notes


Design App Navigation Early!

12:38CONTOSO COOKBOOK

regions

12:38

Regional recipes

12:38

Recipe Detail

12:38

About

12:38

Notes & Photos

Back BackBack

Back

17

Now Start Building With the Tools

•One way to get good looking programs is to separate the graphical design

aspects from the programming• The designer can work on the look and feel of the application• The programmer can implement the required behaviours

• XAML and the Windows Phone developer tools are designed to support this way

of working

18

Tools for the Job: Graphical Design

• A UX designer can use Blend to specify the appearance

of the user interface• A version of Blend for the phone is supplied as part of the phone SDK

19

Tools for the Job: Code Creation

• A Developer can take the user interface design and use Visual Studio build the

program to make it work• Visual Studio provides a design environment but it is not as advanced as

Blend

20

Design Style and Programming

• As programmers we probably start of just worrying about making the program

work• This is a very good place to start

• But in modern systems the “look and feel” of the user interface is very important•No matter how good the code is, if the program is hard to use it will

not be popular

• You should pay careful attention to the user interface when making phone

programs

• If you know any Graphic Designers it is worth getting them on your development

team

21

Project Templates and Components

•Windows Phone SDK provides

a set of project templates

• Each of them maps onto a

particular style of application

22

Application Templates

•Windows Phone App• Basic single page app

•Windows Phone Databound App• Project for creating a Windows Phone application using List and navigation

controls with a basic Model-View-ViewModel architecture

•Windows Phone Pivot App•User can “pivot” between different screens by flicking left and right

•Windows Phone Panorama application• A single panoramic background with pages of controls that the user

can pan between

23

Application Types

• Three application types provide quite different user experiences

• Select the one that you feel is the most appropriate

Introduction to XAML Layout

04/12/202324

The Contoso Cookbook Recipe Details Page

• This is a Pivot page that displays details of a recipe• Picture and directions on one pane• Ingredients list on another pane

Pivot Pages• <phone:PhoneApplicationPage

x:Class="ContosoCookbook.RecipeDetailPage"

... />

<Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot" Background="Transparent">

<phone:Pivot Title=“PIVOT APPLICATION">



<phone:PivotItem Header=“item1">

<Grid>

</Grid>

</phone:PivotItem>



<phone:PivotItem Header=“item2">

<Grid>

</Grid>

</phone:PivotItem>

</phone:Pivot>

</Grid>

</phone:PhoneApplicationPage>26

Pivot Control Pivot

Headers

Pivot Items Control

XAML and Objects

• Every XAML element is a declaration of an object• XAML stands for XML Application Markup Language• XAML is a way of describing a UI using XML• This is a declarative way of expressing your UI

• XAML elements == objects in the

System.Windows.Controls namespace

• Each of the items on the screen of the application shown

is a graphical rendering of an object

28

XAML Display Elements

• Pivot title

• Pivot item headers

• Image

• TextBlock

• TextBlock

• TextBlock

29

Display Element Properties

• Each of the elements contains properties that define how it appears on the

screen• Position on the screen•Height and width• Font colour and size etc..

• These values are used by XAML when the display is drawn

• If these value are changed by the program the appearance of the element will

change

30

XAML Element Class Hierarchy

• The XAML class hierarchy is

quite complex

• Everything is based on the

FrameworkElement class which contains

the fundamental properties

of all elements

• You can derive your own components

if you wish

FrameworkElement

TextBlock

TextBox ContentControl

ButtonBase

Button

Control

31

Elements and XAML

 <phone:PivotItem Header="recipe"> <Grid> <Grid.RowDefinitions> <RowDefinition Height="240"/> <RowDefinition Height="*"/> <RowDefinition Height="Auto"/> </Grid.RowDefinitions> <Image x:Name="RecipeImage" Stretch="UniformToFill"/> <ScrollViewer Grid.Row="1"> <TextBlock x:Name="DirectionsTextBlock" TextWrapping="Wrap" /> </ScrollViewer> <StackPanel Grid.Row="2" Orientation="Horizontal"> <TextBlock Text="Prep time: " /> <TextBlock MinWidth="200" x:Name="PrepTimeTextBlock" /> </StackPanel> </Grid> </phone:PivotItem>

32

Grid Container Element

 <phone:PivotItem Header="recipe"> <Grid> <Grid.RowDefinitions> <RowDefinition Height="240"/> <RowDefinition Height="*"/> <RowDefinition Height="Auto"/> </Grid.RowDefinitions> <Image x:Name="RecipeImage" Stretch="UniformToFill"/> <ScrollViewer Grid.Row="1"> <TextBlock x:Name="DirectionsTextBlock" TextWrapping="Wrap" /> </ScrollViewer> <StackPanel Grid.Row="2" Orientation="Horizontal" > <TextBlock Text="Prep time: " /> <TextBlock MinWidth="200" x:Name="PrepTimeTextBlock" /> </StackPanel> </Grid> </phone:PivotItem>

• Alignment of UI elements is important!

• The magic number in Windows Phone UI is 12px, or multiples of 12• Your page should have a nice, visually crisp line that is 24 pixels from the

left of the device’s screen•Gap between controls should be at least 12px• Align on 12px increments•…though 6px or 18px may also be appropriate

Alignment of Elements

04/12/202333


• Poor alignment of content with

header

• Page Margin not 24px

•No spacing between elements

Fixing the Alignment of the Recipe Page


• Button at bottom of Designer window can be used

to show a 12px alignment Grid

•Useful for setting alignment of elements

• Available in Blend

•Now also available in Visual Studio

Visual Studio and Blend Alignment Grid

36

• All new projects include AlignmentGrid.png in the Assets folder

• You can overlay the grid at design and runtime by uncommenting

the XAML that shows it• Included near the foot of MainPage.xaml• Copy to other pages to show on those





Alignment Grid Overlay


Using the Alignment Grid

<Image Source="/Assets/AlignmentGrid.png" VerticalAlignment="Top" Height="800" Width="480" Margin="0,-32,0,0" Grid.Row="0" Grid.RowSpan="2" IsHitTestVisible="False" />

Microsoft confidential38

<phone:PivotItem Header="recipe">

<Grid>

<Grid.RowDefinitions>

<RowDefinition Height="240"/>

<RowDefinition Height="*"/>

<RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>

</Grid.RowDefinitions>

<Image x:Name="RecipeImage" Margin="12" Stretch="UniformToFill"/>

<ScrollViewer Grid.Row="1">

<TextBlock x:Name="DirectionsTextBlock" TextWrapping="Wrap" Margin="12,0,0,0" />

</ScrollViewer>

<StackPanel Grid.Row="2" Orientation="Horizontal" Margin="12" HorizontalAlignment="Left" >

<TextBlock Text="Prep time: " Margin="0" />

<TextBlock x:Name="PrepTimeTextBlock" />

</StackPanel>

</Grid>

</phone:PivotItem>

Use Margin Property to Insert Spacing

Demo 1: Laying out a Page

04/12/2023

Styles and Themes


• You can set colors and font sizes for elements directly in XAML:


<TextBlock x:Name="DirectionsTextBlock" TextWrapping="Wrap"

Margin="12,0,0,0" Foreground="White" FontSize="12" />

</ScrollViewer>

<StackPanel Grid.Row="2" Orientation="Horizontal" Margin="12" HorizontalAlignment="Left"

>

<TextBlock Text="Prep time: " Margin="0" Foreground="White"/>

<TextBlock x:Name="PrepTimeTextBlock" Foreground="LightGray" FontSize="24" />

</StackPanel>

• This is generally a BAD IDEA!• Difficult to match builtin styles• Difficult to work with Windows Phone Themes

Applying Styles to Elements


Foreground Colors and Themes

Microsoft confidential43

<phone:PivotItem Header="recipe">

<Grid>


<RowDefinition Height="240"/>

<RowDefinition Height="*"/>

<RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>


<Image x:Name="RecipeImage" Margin="12" Stretch="UniformToFill"/>


<TextBlock x:Name="DirectionsTextBlock" TextWrapping="Wrap"

Margin="12,0,0,0" Style="{StaticResource PhoneTextSmallStyle}" />

</ScrollViewer>

<StackPanel Grid.Row="2" Orientation="Horizontal" Margin="12" HorizontalAlignment="Left" >

<TextBlock Text="Prep time: " Margin="0" Style="{StaticResource PhoneTextNormalStyle}" />

<TextBlock x:Name="PrepTimeTextBlock" Style="{StaticResource PhoneTextSubtleStyle}" />

</StackPanel>

</Grid>

</phone:PivotItem>

Use Built-In Styles


New in VS2012 – Apply Styles in Visual Studio

Demo 2: Working withStyles

Design-Time Data

Design-time data is essential for designers to get the full benefits of WYSIWYG designingBlend allows you to create sample data, to import it from XML or generate it from an existing class

Generating Design-Time Data

47

Creating Sample Data From Class

Use ‘Create Sample Data from Class’ feature in Expression Blend to generate the design-time data

Easiest way is to define your data class in Visual Studio

Edit Design-Time Data Format and Values

Easily edit the number of words Expression Blend generates for each string field

Edit the maximum length of each word

Edit Design-Time Data Format and Values

Edit the sample data XML file that Blend generates

Demo 3: Design-Time Data

Data Binding

Data Binding

• Simplest way to program UI controls is to write your own “glue” to get and set

properties

of controls• e.g. , textBox1.Text = "Hello, world";

• In complex applications, such code quickly becomes unwieldy and error prone.

• Use XAML data binding to link your UI to a class in your application that contains your

application data• A data class that is a source for data binding is called a ViewModel

• UI controls can get their display values automatically from properties of the viewmodel

class• Changing the property, updates the display• User input can automatically update the bound property of the viewmodel class

Data Binding in XAML

• Properties of controls can be bound to a public property of a data object• In the example above, the Text property of the TextBlock is bound to the

Directions property of some data source

•Define the data source by setting• The DataContext property of any containing FrameworkElement-derived class

(a containing control, the page, or the frame),

• or• The ItemsSource property of a List control

<TextBlock x:Name="DirectionsTextBlock" TextWrapping="Wrap" Margin="12,0,0,0" Text="{Binding Directions}" />

Data Binding Modes

• The Mode property determines how changes are synchronized between the

target control and data source•OneTime – Control property is set once to the data value and any subsequent

changes are ignored•OneWay – Changes in the data object are synchronized to the control property, but

changes in the control are not synchronized back to the data object• TwoWay – Changes in the data object are synchronized to the control property and

vice-versa

<TextBlock x:Name="DirectionsTextBlock" TextWrapping="Wrap" Margin="12,0,0,0" Text="{Binding Directions, Mode=OneWay}" />

INotifyPropertyChanged

Data objects that take part in OneWay or TwoWay binding must implement the

INotifyPropertyChanged interface This interface requires only that the object publishes the PropertyChanged event

Object must fire the PropertyChanged event whenever the value of one of

its public properties changes

The XAML runtime subscribes to this event and uses it to update databound UI

elements

public class ItemViewModel : INotifyPropertyChanged{ public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;…}

ViewModel Implementation in Windows Phone 7.1Old style of implementation was error-prone because of use of ‘magic

strings’ public class ItemViewModel : INotifyPropertyChanged { private string _id; /// Sample ViewModel property; this property is used to identify the object. public string ID { get { return _id; } set { if (value != _id) { _id = value; NotifyPropertyChanged("ID"); } } }

public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged; private void NotifyPropertyChanged(String propertyName) { PropertyChangedEventHandler handler = PropertyChanged; if (null != handler) { handler(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName)); } }}

ViewModel Implementation in Windows Phone 8.0New style of implementation – CallerMemberName Attribute public class ItemViewModel : INotifyPropertyChanged { private string _id; public string ID { get { return _id; } set { this.SetProperty(ref this._id, value); } }

public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;

protected bool SetProperty<T>(ref T storage, T value, [CallerMemberName] String propertyName = null) { if (object.Equals(storage, value)) return false;

storage = value; this.OnPropertyChanged(propertyName); return true; } protected void OnPropertyChanged([CallerMemberName] string propertyName = null) { var eventHandler = this.PropertyChanged; if (eventHandler != null) eventHandler(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName)); } }

Binding to Lists

•List controls can bind to collections of items

•Set the ItemsSource property to a collection of data objects• For one way or two way databinding to work, this must be an

ObservableCollection• Items inside an ObservableCollection need to implement

INotifyPropertyChanged

<ListBox x:Name="IngredientsLIstBox" ItemTemplate="{StaticResource StringTemplate}" ItemsSource="{Binding Ingredients}"/>

Observable Collections

60

/// <summary> /// A collection for ItemViewModel objects. /// </summary> public ObservableCollection<ItemViewModel> Items { get; private set; }

public void LoadData() { this.Items.Add(new ItemViewModel() { ID = "0", LineOne = "runtime one", LineTwo = ... }); this.Items.Add(new ItemViewModel() { ID = "1", LineOne = "runtime two", LineTwo = ... }); this.Items.Add(new ItemViewModel() { ID = "2", LineOne = "runtime three", LineTwo = ... });}

MVVM

•MVVM stands for Model – View – ViewModel

•MVVM is an architectural pattern that employs Databinding and strict separation of concerns•Model – a class or classes that exposes the data of your application, either fetched from local

data storage or externally such as a web service• ViewModel – a class or classes that has properties and methods that can be used to databind

to a View• View – a class or classes that implement the presentation functionality of your application,

displaying data and accepting user input. A View should contain no application logic and is

bound to a ViewModel class

• See• Implementing the Model-View-ViewModel Pattern in a Windows Phone Application:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsphone/develop/gg521153(v=vs.92).aspx •MVVMLite framework: http://galasoft.ch/mvvm/

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsphone/develop/gg521153(v=vs.92).aspx

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsphone/develop/gg521153(v=vs.92).aspx

http://galasoft.ch/mvvm/

Demo 4: Data Binding

62

Designing Lists

LongListSelector

• ListBox++

• Flat lists

•Grouped lists – with headers

• Jump List

• Supports full UI and data virtualization

• Formerly in the Silverlight Toolkit•Now in ROM for good performance•Use instead of ListBox – this is the

preferred List control!

List Item Rendering

• All Lists – ListBox, LongListSelector – have no default

rendering for data items

• If you simply bind the ItemsSource property to a collection of

objects, all you get displayed in the list for each item is the

name of the data object type

<Grid x:Name="ContentPanel" Grid.Row="1" Margin="12,0,12,0">

<phone:LongListSelector x:Name="lstGroups"

ItemsSource="{Binding ItemGroups}"

SelectionChanged="lstGroups_SelectionChanged" >

</phone:LongListSelector>

</Grid>

04/12/202365

Generating Lists from Design-time Data• In Blend, if you drag a collection from the Data window onto the design surface

while in List mode, it generates a ListBox and attempts a default rendering for

list items• Manually change to a phone:LongListSelector in the XAML

66

‘List’ mode

Lists and Templates

• All the different elements that affect how a list displays content can be

customised

• Each aspect is controlled by a template. For the LongListSelector, there are

many:• GroupFooterTemplate – area that shows at end of each group if LLS used to show

grouped items• GroupHeaderTemplate – area that shows at top of each group if LLS used to show

grouped items• ItemTemplate – layout for each data item• JumpListStyle – layout of items in the Jump List, if enabled• ListFooterTemplate – area that shows at the foot of the whole list• ListHeaderTemplate – area that shows at the top of the whole list

• To change the layout of how each data item displays, we need to modify the

ItemTemplate04/12/202367

• Right-click on the list control, then

access the Edit Additional

Templates menu•Design the controls in the

template

Modifying the ItemTemplate in Blend

04/12/202368


<phone:PhoneApplicationPage.Resources>

<DataTemplate x:Key="RecipeDataGroupTemplate">

<Grid Margin="5" >

<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>

<ColumnDefinition Width="150"/>

<ColumnDefinition Width="*"/>

</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>


<RowDefinition/>

<RowDefinition/>


<Image Source="{Binding BackgroundImage}" Width="150" Stretch="UniformToFill"

Grid.RowSpan="2"/>

<TextBlock Text="{Binding Title}" Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="0" Style="{StaticResource

…}"/>

<TextBlock Text="{Binding Description}" Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="1"

Style="{StaticResource …}" />

</Grid>

</DataTemplate>

</phone:PhoneApplicationPage.Resources>

DataTemplate in XAML

Demo 5: Data Templates and Lists

70

Review

•Windows Phone Design has five key principles:• Clean, Light, Open, Fast• Celebrate Typography• Alive in Motion• Content, Not Chrome• Authentically Digital

•Windows Phone applications use XAML to express the design of their user interface• The design is expressed in a XAML text file that defines and arranges display elements

• There are a set of project templates for applications based on the Windows Phone design

• In Blend, you can create design-time data to aid during design of a UI

• Databinding in XAML allows you to declaratively markup UI elements to link them to a

property of a data class

• List controls define layout using XAML Templates

The information herein is for informational purposes only an represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be

interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation.

© 2012 Microsoft Corporation.

All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.

MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

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