Resources for windows form design and increased usability

Question

The majority of resources that I have for UI design all deal with the web world. There are a number of advantages there because of the dynamic nature of the presentation layer.

However, I would like to design better windows form programs. I want a professional flow to my applications. Right now they look pretty by using WPF, but events seem disjointed (i.e. almost unnatural progression) and I don't really know how to design a good (usability wise) interface. Does anyone blog about that sort of thing?

Answer 1

Try considering WPF as the technology to develop Windows application then you can use lot of vector graphics(XAML) and so lot more than what you can do with windows forms. There is a great blog comparing both http://joshsmithonwpf.wordpress.com/2007/09/05/wpf-vs-windows-forms/

Answer 2

http://windowsclient.net/ is a Microsoft site for windows forms.

Answer 3

You may also want to take a look at the "Windows User Experience Interaction Guidelines" or UX Guide available at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa511258.aspx or in PDF. Here's the goals as listed on the website:

• Establish a high quality and consistency baseline for all Windows-based applications.
• Answer your specific user experience questions.
• Make your job easier!