Microsoft Releases New Xbox Home Screen

The new Xbox home screen is now publically available for all users. The revision was in testing since May this year and offered Alpha Insider members access to the so-called “new Home experience”. Microsoft has now rolled the update out to everyone.

The company says that the design overhaul was created from the feedback received from the Xbox community and Xbox Insiders. It also assessed what players were using the most on their home screens and tried to focus on that more than anything else.

READ MORE – Shadow of the Colossus Sequel or ‘Reimagining’ Speculated by Fans

The big change to the design is fewer ads, smaller blocks, more wallpaper space and a focus on your games. Microsoft detailed the tweaks in a summary saying:

• The movement of the Library, Microsoft Store, Game Pass, Search and Settings options to a quick access menu at the top of the screen
• Putting recently played games and other content and apps towards the bottom of the screen, creating more space for a personalised background
• The addition of an option to change the background to match the game being highlighted in the recently played list
• The improvement of game discovery by introducing personalised lists of games curated for the player
• Allowing players to pin favourite games, curated groups and system groups (like Quick Resume) to Home
• An updated Friends & Community Updates row helps players find what’s going on in their community
• A Watch & Listen spotlight showing which media apps and content are available

Improving the Home Experience has been truly a Team Xbox effort —from engineers to designers to researchers and many more. We started by investing in infrastructure that would allow us to try different layouts of the page with different content for different situations and customers. We then evaluated many different elements of the design process including what people interact with in the experience, how easy it is for people to complete the action they want to take, and how satisfied they are with the overall experience. Once we had a version that was ready to share, we started to roll it out to our Xbox Insiders.

Microsoft has come under fire in recent months for its home screen design. The company has all but hidden away the wallpaper by slapping ads and large blocks in front of it. Users complain the experience is cumbersome and they don’t use half of the items available. This change is meant to rectify that issue.

Source; Xbox Wire