1. Reduce concepts to increase confidence

   • Have you introduced a new concept? Why? Is it necessary?
     
   • Can you get rid of unneeded concepts?
     
   • Are you making meaningful distinctions?
     
   • Does the UX continue the same concept?
     

2. Small things matter, good and bad

   • What are the important “small things” seen often or by many?
     
   • What small problems are you solving?
     
   • Do less better.
     
   • Don’t cut the small things in your experiences.
     
   • Plan for the thoughtful details.
     
   • Fix the small bugs.
     

3. Be great at "look" and "do"

   • What is your UX great at? Does its look reflect what it is great at?
     
   • Does the first thing users see reflect what the UX is great at?
     
   • Does the UX match expectations?
     
   • Is it obvious what users can do?
     
   • Are you providing only the necessary steps?
     

4. Solve distractions, not discoverability

   • Reduce distractions.
     
   • Don’t let features compete with themselves.
     
   • Commit to new functionality.
     
   • These are not solutions to poor discoverability:
     
     • Pinning an icon in the Start menu.
       
     • Putting an icon on the desktop.
       
     • Putting an icon in the notification area.
       
     • Using a notification.
       
     • Having a first run experience.
       
     • Having a tour.
       

5. UX before knobs and questions

   • Turn down the volume of questions.
     
   • Ask once.
     
   • Don’t require configuration to get value.
     
   • Was the question asked already?
     
   • Look for opportunities to consolidate.
     

6. Personalization, not customization

   • Does the feature allow users to express an element of themselves?
     
   • Have you made the distinction between personalization and customization?
     
   • Does the personalization have to be a new feature, or can it make use of existing features and information (such as the user’s location, background picture, or tile)?
     

7. Value the life cycle of the experience

   • Consider the user experience at all stages:
     
   • Installation and creation.
     
   • First use and customization.
     
   • Regular use.
     
   • Management and maintenance.
     
   • Uninstall or upgrade.
     
   • Walk through the experience as if it has been used for 12 months.
     
   • Does it have:
     
     • Realistic content.
       
     • Realistic volume.
       

8. Time matters, so build for people on the go

   • All UX principles apply equally at 12-inch and 20-inch screen sizes.
     
   • Be interruptible.
     
   • Account for starting and stopping (fast return, and do not get in the way of other UX).
     
   • Account for getting and losing connectivity.
     
   • Performance is the universal UX killer.