Chapter 2 - Designing Tablet PC Applications

Chapter 2

Designing Tablet PC Applications

Now that you understand the basic elements of a Tablet PC, we can explore some of the considerations unique to developing applications for it. We begin by looking at some of the fundamental differences between applications targeted for desktops versus those targeted for Tablet PCs. Although you can transfer most of your Microsoft Windows development know-how to the Tablet PC world, you ll find that tablet development requires you to pay some additional attention to usability concerns.

Two factors that Tablet PCs introduce to application development are pens and digital ink. Before looking at these, we describe the key user research the Tablet PC team conducted during development of the Tablet PC. By observing users with Tablet PCs, the team discovered a set of design principles that will make your application easier to use.