Spotlight – Windows Dev/Design Center

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If you have ever built a Windows Store application without browsing to Design Center: https://design.windows.com and Dev Center: https://dev.windows.com then you have missed out on some of the best practices and a wealth of resources you could have leveraged.

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These two sites should be the first destination for anyone building Windows Store Apps. These sites include detailed guidance on:

User Experience Design

UX Templates

UX Patterns

Monetization

Design Assets like Adobe Photoshop Files

Sample Applications

And more…

For developers, the sites can be overwhelming when you first visit them as they contain a lot of information for anyone to absorb on a single visit. I recommend you start at the basic tutorials here:

Create your first Windows Store app using C# or Visual Basic

Create your first Windows Store app using JavaScript

Or there is a fantastic HOL for building a Contoso Cookbook.

For UX designers, the site provides planning & guidance based on already successful apps.