Continuum for Phones, Windows 10: A PC Experience Powered via Phone

Continuum for Phones is a feature in Windows 10 that enables a Windows Phone to provide a PC-like experience when connected to a mouse, keyboard and almost any screen. “Universal” Windows apps scale up to the larger screen—resizing, reflowing and even bringing greater content and functionality front-and-center. Mouse and keyboard function as you would expect—providing high-precision inputs so you can get more done. While your phone is powering this experience, you can continue to use it—pick it up to take a call, type in a text or keep track of that Spotify playlist while you work.

Working with design, user research, product planning and strong teams of engineers, I led the creation of the input experiences—using mouse, keyboard, and software touchpad and keyboard. Working closely with a couple of awesome hacker developers, I also led the prototyping of the entire Continuum user experience. This played a critical role in iteratively improving the user experience—by usability testing and demoing it across the company.

I can’t wait to see people using Continuum for phones! While the feature is yet to be released, you can watch the recorded Build Developers Conference Session where our team demoed the feature. Here are some early reactions from the media:

“Microsoft turning phones into PCs feels like the future” - The Verge

“I cannot wait to use this feature.” - Paul Thurrott

“Microsoft answers the question, ‘Why Windows Phone?’” - Neowin

“Microsoft’s Continuum for phones portends new computing paradigm” - Tom’s Hardware

“Microsoft’s plan to convert all our gadgets to Windows” - Wired

SCOPE

Conceptualize, plan, design and develop all input experiences. Iteratively prototype, usability test and improve overall user experience

PERSONAL IMPACT

Feature planning, prioritization and specification, sketching & wireframing, managing cross-team dependencies, leading prototyping, software & hardware testing, team scrum, and bringing the donuts!

organization

Microsoft

TEAM discipline

Software Engineering, Design, User Research, Marketing, Product Planning

LOCATION

Redmond, WA

RELEASE DATE

TBA

DELIVERABLES

UI comps, feature specifications

tools used

Pen & paper, Adobe Illustrator, Team Foundation Server & Visual Studio, Microsoft Powerpoint

TYPE

Multi-Device Operating System Design & Development