}
Client: Microsoft
Formerly known as Creature House Expression, this acquired product was almost cancelled due to a massively complex source code and outdated user interface.
What saved it was a new architecture that simultaneously updated the user interface by a decade, simplified the million-line C/C++ codebase, and integrated Design into the Expression suite of products.
What you see here is the result of that new architecture: a Frankenstein’s monster of an application made from the guts of a legacy product, surrounding by a modern UI using a consistent design and controls.
Following the success of this approach, several Microsoft apps adopted this hybrid architecture, including Expression Web (Frontpage) and Visual Studio.
Pixel Division’s Devon Strawn led the development of this new architecture.
Nip & Tuck for GUIs (a.k.a. the scoop on Expression Design’s past)
Microsoft Expression Web 3 UI Built With WPF; Expression Studio Moves Forward