Inside Widgets feature in Windows 11


  • Staff
Widgets is a new feature in Windows 11 that lets people take a quick peek at topline information from their favorite apps and websites without ever having to juggle between different devices.

It’s a one-stop shop for everything you care about.

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“It’s a one-stop shop for everything you care about in just a single click or a swipe from left to right,” says program manager Charlie.

Our vision was to provide people using Windows with an easy way to stay on top of things like weather, news, calendars and more.

“Using Widgets is like opening doors into apps,” says designer Priya.

We knew the experience had to look great, be totally customizable and simple to use. But none of this would’ve mattered if Widgets was seen as disruptive.

Even before the pandemic, when anyone using a PC with an internet connection was already inundated with external distractions, the work-from-home era has completely blurred the line between work and life. Now, everyone has multiple devices, each with its own assortment of apps, competing for our attention. This topic came up repeatedly in user research.

We wanted to create a surface feature that allowed people to keep focus, so they didn’t have to jump from device to device.

One of the top things that we heard from people was that they found it difficult to focus on multiple things throughout the day,” Priya says. “They will often switch from their PC to their smartphone and then back again. So we wanted to create a surface feature that allowed people to keep focus, so they didn’t have to jump from device to device.”

Widgets was designed to keep users in their flow—allowing them a quick break from their work through neat little packages of snackable information—without ever needing to embark upon a time-consuming search.

“Would you rather take out your phone, look away from your work and check up on that news? Or would you just click or swipe and just read that story right there on your desktop?” design manager Yash says.

You have full control to personalize the content.

This ability to click, swipe, drag and drop also allows you to make Widgets completely your own.

“You can customize your experience by adding the Widgets you want and removing the ones you don’t need. You can change the size and even define the look and feel with light and dark themes. You have full control to personalize the content,” says senior program manager Shengbo.

We conducted research studies to pinpoint what type of content that people would actually want to see in Widgets. The results fell mainly into three buckets: staying productive, staying informed and staying entertained. The fact that more and more people are familiar with mobile and social experiences led us to include a newsfeed in the experience, aggregated from information from the Widgets themselves.

The research also reinforced the notion that content is key. A newsfeed is nothing without personalized content, including hyperlocal news and information.

But it wasn’t enough to simply meet people where they are with the information they want, we needed to make the experience easy to find and easy to use. We asked ourselves big questions: Where should this surface live on Windows? How can we make invoking Widgets just as simple with touch gestures, as it is with a keyboard and mouse?

“People today don't just have one device, they have phones, they have tablets, and they have a PC. And they expect similar interaction patterns to carry across all of those devices,” designer Dorothy says.

Seeing your Widgets is easy, no matter how you do it. Just click on the icon on the Taskbar, swipe from the left using touch, or hit WIN + W on your keyboard, and your widgets slide out from the left over your desktop.

Closing out the feature is simple as well. “It’s a ‘soft dismiss,’” says Yash. “There are no hurdles like clicking buttons or icons. Just a simple tap outside the Widgets canvas and you're done, you're back into whatever you were doing.”

Adding this new feature in the Taskbar— the most visible place in Windows— comes with responsibilities. But because so much of this journey has been influenced by user feedback and research studies, we feel like we truly got it right. And our team is excited to share Widgets with the world.

“When Windows 11 comes out, people are going to press a button, and they're going to see our experience pop up,” Charlie says. “And to think about how much thought, how much time, how many people and how many hours we all spent working on just this one thing that people are going to see by clicking that one button—it’s crazy.”


Source: Windows Insider Program




 

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But they are only working if you have an MS account, right?
 

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  • Operating System
    W11 Pro
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    This is an older PC for testing new OS,
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But they are only working if you have an MS account, right?
In my case widgets are not available into my daily user. However I have create a new user and under this new one widgets are working even under the Administrator user.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 3 2200U
    Motherboard
    Aspire A315-41
    Memory
    6GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon Vega
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Laptop
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    SSD256 + IDE ITB
Now if I could put my Google calendar up, or my Google Gmail, Google contacts, or ANYTHING besides the default MS stuff, I might actually have a use for the widgets. I removed it from my start and taskbar. No widgets for me until other companies either start making apps for it or ALLOWED to make apps for it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    home built
    CPU
    i7-12700K
    Motherboard
    ASUS Rog Strix Z690-F Gaming
    Memory
    64GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS TUF RTX 4090 OC card
    Sound Card
    none Headphones ASUS 7.1 Surround
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Gigabyte M32U 32 inch 4k IPS 144Hz monitor
    Screen Resolution
    3340 by 2160 144 Hz with HDR 10
    Hard Drives
    2TB Samsung 980 Pro NVME, 3X Samsung 4TB 860 EVO
    PSU
    EVGA 850 Modular
    Case
    Corsair Graphite 780T
    Cooling
    Cooler Master Hyper air
    Keyboard
    Corsair K95 RGB
    Mouse
    Logitech G502 wired
    Internet Speed
    990Mbps up/down Fiber to the home
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    MS Defender
Hallo,
today I logged in with a local account, the widgets now also work with the local account, has MS changed something, luckily? :wink:
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo P50
    CPU
    Intel I7 6820 HQ QuadCore
    Memory
    16 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD 530, Nvidia Qudro M1000M
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1920x1080
    Screen Resolution
    Wide viewing angle & High density FlexView Display 1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    SSD
I have no use for widgets, Heck, I never even use split screens.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom built
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
    Motherboard
    MSI B550-A Pro
    Memory
    16 GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-3200
    Graphics Card(s)
    PowerColor Red Devil Radeon RX 6600XT with 8GB GDDR6
    Sound Card
    Realtek integrated
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer Nitro 24" RG241Y 144hz refresh rate
    Screen Resolution
    1920 X 1080
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital Black SN770 1 TB NVMe SSD
    Samsung 860 QVO 1 TB SATA SSD
    Seagate Barracuda 1 TB HDD
    PSU
    LEPA B650 650 watt
    Case
    Enermax Coenus
    Cooling
    Cooler Master Hyper T4 air
    Keyboard
    CM Storm Devastator
    Mouse
    E-Blue Cobra Jr.
    Internet Speed
    100mbs
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge Chromium
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
    Other Info
    Optical Drives: LG DVD-RW and Pioneer BluRay/ DVD burner
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Asus ROG Zephyrus G14
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS
    Motherboard
    Asus board (GA402RK)
    Memory
    16 GB Samsung DDR5-4800
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated Radeon 680M and discrete Radeon RX 6800S with 8GB GDDR6
    Sound Card
    Integrated Realtek with Dolby Atmos
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Laptop screen 14" WQXGA, IPS, 120hz refresh rate
    Screen Resolution
    2560 X 1600
    Hard Drives
    1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD (WD Black SN850)
    PSU
    Battery power and Asus power brick/adapter. Also has USB-C charging
    Case
    Laptop
    Cooling
    Laptop fans in vapor chamber
    Mouse
    Touchpad and Omoton bluetooth mouse
    Keyboard
    Built in RGB backlit
    Internet Speed
    100mbps
    Browser
    Edge Chromium
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender

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