Microsoft is updating the Visual Studio UI, and they want your input

Microsoft is utilizing Fluent Design concepts to significantly alter Visual Studio’s design.

Due to its cross-platform programming features and strong Microsoft support, Visual Studio is one of the most widely used integrated development environments (IDE) in the world. The software is frequently updated by the Redmond tech company with new features, the most recent of which include native support for Windows Arm devices and an accessibility checker. It is now working to enhance the IDE’s user interface and is seeking some early client feedback.

Fluent Design ideas have lately been used throughout all of Microsoft’s key products, and Visual Studio is no exception. The firm claims that the IDE’s visual language has mostly remained the same since Visual Studio 2012, yet user feedback shows that there are several UI inconsistencies, visual noise issues, and navigational issues. As a result, it’s time to apply Fluent Design concepts to improve Visual Studio’s user interface.

Cohesiveness, accessibility, and productivity are the three main focuses of the technological behemoth’s UI upgrades. Microsoft aspires to provide a new user interface that smoothly integrates with other products and the OS. In order to lessen cognitive load and mental fatigue, it also wants to provide a consistent interface and increase the IDE’s accessibility to a larger community. For those who are not aware, this statistic determines the “mental processing power” required by a user to locate UI components and successfully complete specified actions.

Microsoft is making a number of adjustments to reduce cognitive stress. To prevent developers from inadvertently clicking on the incorrect control while still having enough of room in their coding environment, they involve adopting lighter-weight control styling and alterations to their respective target sizes. To reduce unnecessary visual noise, other UI changes include maintaining uniformity across colors, space, alignment, and menu design.

Microsoft hasn’t yet specified a timeframe for when all of these UI upgrades will be made accessible to Visual Studio-using developers. The developer community ticket is specifically designated for user feedback, and there you may compare the current design and the suggested improvements.