Recall and Click to Do

I led design for two Copilot+ PC showcase experiences that turn “I know I saw it” into “I can find it, and act on it.” Recall helps people search across time using natural language and an explorable timeline. Click to Do adds on-device, context-aware actions directly on what’s on screen—so you can take the next step without leaving your flow.

Year2023-2024
RoleDesign Leader

"I know I saw it"

People often remember that they saw something, somewhere - an email, a slide, a webpage, a chat—but the path back is buried in tabs, folders, fragmented histories, and a faint memory.

Solution

Recall: search across time with semantic cues. Click to Do: act directly on what’s on screen. Together: retrieval → action → relaunch.

Find anything you saw

Two pathways: search using the clues you remember or scroll a timeline of moments. The experience is designed to help you rediscover content across apps, websites, images, and documents.

Timeline browsing: quick spatial recall without needing filenames

Recall search results showing relevant text and visual matches

A selected Recall snapshot open with a relaunch affordance

Do more with what you find

Click to Do runs on top of Recall moments so you can select image, text, url, date or time from a snapshot and take the next step—copy, open, search, share, or hand off to a provider app—without re-navigating.

Text actions

Image actions

Email

Address

Web URL

Privacy

Trust is a core UX requirement. Recall is opt-in and provides controls to pause saving snapshots, filter apps and websites, and delete snapshots. Recall processes content locally and stores it on-device.

A persistent privacy indicator keeps users informed, and lets them set boundaries on what gets saved and surfaced in Recall.

Controls are meant to be discoverable, reversible, and understandable.

Security

Microsoft publicly described a security and privacy architecture for Recall emphasizing user control, Windows Hello verification, encryption, and isolation protections. My focus as design lead was to ensure these safeguards were legible in the UX—clear setup choice, clear state, and clear control surfaces.

Proof of presence: reinforce that this is your private memory.

Click to Do

We elevated the actionable layer beyond Recall—redefining the meaning of a click. Click to Do can be invoked via dedicated shortcuts and entry points and surfaces contextual actions for text and images, while keeping analysis local and user-driven.

Act on anything you see

Semantically understand the context and surface relevant actions you can take right there - image, text, and more.

Click to Do, naturally

Adapts to the device it runs on - touch, pen, or mouse. Invoke naturally with a swipe, double tap on hardware button or a long press.

Motion, detail, and interactions

I jumped into the code, wrote a shader and particle system, and brought people together across teams to craft the signature Click to Do ripple. I wanted the experience to feel memorable, not just something that works.

Before: A highlight effect

Before: A highlight effect

After: A smooth ripple effect, edge glow and particles

Recall motion and details

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