Too Much Empty Space On Start Screen

[Joshua Jackson]

I find it to be quite a waste of space, that there is so much unused space at the top and sides of the start screen.
Every time I hit back to the start screen, I slide up so that my tiles line up to the bottom of the screen (half of the tile is hidden, otherwise).
Also, the sides are 2-3 times thicker than the margin between tiles.
Shouldn't it be equal?
It may look fine, when using the light theme, but the black border and black bezel just creates an unnecessary sea of black.
JJ

 

[Chregu]

I find it to be quite a waste of space, that there is so much unused space at the top and sides of the start screen.
Every time I hit back to the start screen, I slide up so that my tiles line up to the bottom of the screen (half of the tile is hidden, otherwise).
Also, the sides are 2-3 times thicker than the margin between tiles.
Shouldn't it be equal?
It may look fine, when using the light theme, but the black border and black bezel just creates an unnecessary sea of black.
JJ

Microsoft invested a lot of time and effort into the Windows Phone 7 start screen. If I remember correctly, they had a homepage dedicated to this. The free space was there on purpose, and on the right side there was even more "wasted" space as a design choice. For Windows 8 (and Windows 7.5) they decided to fill up the screen with tiles.

I don't mind it the way it is right now, even though I found the Windows Phone 7 variant more beautiful despite the wasted space. Ultimately we just have to live with how it is.

 

[Jupast]

While i agree that screen space could be better utilized, the general consensus seems to be two things...

1) It leaves room for the Toast Notifications. Although personally i think they're on-screen so briefly it wouldn't matter.
2) The Half-Tiles at the bottom are to indicate to new users that they can scroll down.

 

[manicottiK]

I'd add that the design goal isn't to cram as much stuff on a single screen as possible.

It may be worth looking at the design principles that Microsoft publishes for Windows Phone.

 

[Agent-P]

2) The Half-Tiles at the bottom are to indicate to new users that they can scroll down.

This was my guess as to why they did this. It fits in with the app design that shows part of the next "panel" in the carousel that indicates you can swipe left/right.