Microsoft introduced the Metro design language in October 2010, for use with Windows Phone. The ultimate goal in creating the Metro style was to apply Metro to all Microsoft products and services. Metro represented a new and different design approach rooted in a set of terms used to define user interactions, transitions, application, elements, and rules. Rather than being a highly prescriptive brand guideline, the Metro design language opened up a world of possibilities that could be creatively interpreted by developers and designers—a vocabulary to communicate  conceptual executions and gestures using vague but evocative key words like “clean” and “open.”

These Metro design principles are based on the Swiss Style, defined by simplicity and the idea of “form follows function.” Metro places an emphasis on typography, clean lines, structured grids, solid color and content, and layout as opposed to heavy graphics and gradients. While designs focusing on grids and colored boxes fit squarely within the Metro design principles, there is still plenty of room to explore creative executions. Yes, Metro uses colored blocks, but in execution, designers can do so much more. And there is a heavy emphasis on the clean organization of content and deliberate user flows to ensure that users can easily find the information that they need.

How Metro is faring.

Because Metro was a radical change in design philosophy, eighteen months later, this branding shift for Microsoft is still midstride.
Given that Metro is open for interpretation, it requires designers and their clients to take design risks. A few design elements were introduced, including prescribed use of spacing between flat brightly colored squares called tiles; use of icons; use of motion; and conservative use of text.
When Microsoft came out with the Windows 8 preview and tiles, some designers understandably anchored their ideas about what Metro looks like in the idea that “tiles are Metro.”

This isn’t always true in all cases however.

In fact the ultimate goal in creating the Metro style was to apply Metro to all Microsoft products and services while still allowing them to have a unique and recognizable identity was. The Metro design language is flexible enough to do that.

And there are some excellent expressions of Metro coming out of Microsoft that aren’t limited to tiles—particularly the sites from Azure, Xbox, and Zune, which are  very Metro without falling back on blocks of color.

While Metro is flexible enough to foster creative solutions that follow its principles, there’s not a widespread demand for innovation with Metro—yet.

When you consider Metro for Windows 8, the motions are still there and the tiles are still there, but how users access content has changed. Further, Metro is not just moveable tiles—designers are highlighting the negative space in alignment with the “content not chrome” directive. Even the gestures on mobile phones are different today from gestures on desktops and other touch screens.

Has Metro been successful in achieving what it set out to do?

Metro was created in an effort to unify the Microsoft brand for all of Microsoft products so that everything from both the consumer and enterprise side would be recognizable as a Microsoft product.

In spite of this, the Microsoft brand was being diluted by the strong brand presence of its own products and services, each of which had its own unique identity.

In fact, there were passionate consumers who gave little notice that Microsoft actually produced the product they loved.

Beyond branding, reengineering the user experience was a main focus of what Microsoft set out to do with Metro. The Microsoft mantra of “less focus on chrome and more focus on content,” is a paradigm shift from complexity to simplicity. With Metro, navigation and user interface is simple, clean, light, and easy—it never disrupts the relationship between the user and the content.

It’s a Matter of Time Until Metro takes hold

Metro principles can be easy to understand but difficult to put into practice. It will likely take another 18 months to really take hold.

People have different ideas about what Metro is: some people still think Metro’s just boxes and icons, while others are  embracing the more abstract elements of Metro.

Getting everyone on the same page will simply take time.

From the user’s perspective, they are learning to interact with live tiles, pivots, and panoramas, which are new interactions. The interactions are flexible and forgiving so they don’t break. These elements are great because it’s easy to correct course and achieve user goals. The constant motion and updates of live tiles entice people to interact with their content on Windows Phones, and we expect this to extend to other devices with the release of Windows 8.

The Metro brand revolution will stay in a holding pattern for the next several months as marketers deepen their understanding of Metro’s abstract principles, then we predict that innovation will kick in to high gear. By the end of 2013, we expect to see a more evolved and sophisticated understanding of the Metro design principles.

So what other companies can learn from the Metro rebranding effort?

• Education and time are critical to rebranding efforts. When an enterprise decides to initiate a true branding shift—which includes a cultural shift as well as updated color palettes and fonts— long-term internal education programs are key. Companies need time to educate marketing leads who are responsible for brands and sub-brands. There also needs to be oversight to give employees the confidence needed to successfully interpret the brand.
• It takes longer than 18 months to see a brand evolution through. Right now Metro’s being adopted and teams want to deploy it, but they are adopting it in its safest form—colored tiles. In another 18 months teams will have more confidence and will be able to take bigger calculated risks.

Metro is an exciting branding achievement for Microsoft, and it’s permeating the design landscape. There will be even more Metro in our midst when Windows 8 releases. In the meantime, marketers can look to the Metro design launch as a lesson in corporate re-branding, and designers can start taking calculated risks with abstract design concepts.

About Rich Blackwell, Designer, Metia
With 14 years of experience in marketing and advertising, Rich combines his extensive design skills with his ability to understand client objectives and develop effective strategies to meet those goals. He specializes in brand development, print and web advertising campaigns, marketing collateral, and website design. Rich has delivered compelling designs for clients such as Microsoft, Expedia, and LG Electronics.