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The article highlights improvements we made to enhance accessibility in Visual Studio 2019 for Mac, helping visually impaired users by strengthening color contrast ratios and ensuring information isn’t color-dependent. The palette was updated to improve contrast ratios and compatibility with macOS High Contrast mode. Lastly, I show how I remodeled the application icons to allow status differentiation beyond color and explain the usual problems with warning and error accents.

The talk focuses on UI design for developer tools from Microsoft designers’ standpoint, discussing the unique aspects of designing for dev tools and stressing the importance of designer and developer collaboration. It mentions many designers’ backgrounds as developers, the use of Figma for collaboration and prototyping, and the utility of Microsoft’s FigmaSharp in translating Figma files into functional UIs. Emphasis is placed on accessibility for all users and balancing aesthetic and functional design. The standardization of experiences across tools like Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code, and Visual Studio for Mac is also highlighted.

This article describes how, as a senior designer at Xamarin (later acquired by Microsoft), I played a pivotal role in adopting and developing Figma within Microsoft.

My journey with Figma began in 2016 when I was captivated by its innovative approach to shared design component libraries and signed up for a preview release. Recognizing its potential, I advocated for its adoption, starting with persuading David Siegel, Xamarin's head of design.

My experience with Figma was transformative, especially compared to the challenges we faced using Sketch, a competing design tool. The ease of sharing and collaboration offered by Figma's browser-based platform was a game-changer. However, we initially encountered performance issues with complex designs.

In 2017, I traveled from the Czech Republic to Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond to demonstrate Figma to my team. This presentation was a resounding success, with the team quickly recognizing Figma as a significant time-saver. This moment marked a turning point for many at Microsoft, helping them realize the potential of Figma in streamlining their design processes.

My efforts contributed significantly to Figma's rapid adoption within Microsoft, to the extent that it began to overshadow Adobe, a long-time industry leader. This journey with Figma revolutionized our design workflow. It marked a significant shift in Microsoft's approach to design and collaboration tools.

• Launched a game on Steam and led the development of a mobile game.

• Significantly contributed to enhancing game performance and improving usability for game designers.

• Used OpenAI API to enhance the game design toolset and processes.