The design paradigm for Window Phone has little touchstones with the "grid and menu" approach of other mobile operating systems, and it can be a bit confusing for companies porting apps and methodologies over to a Metro UI enabled device. Step forward Max Zilberman with Visual Studio Magazine's Ten Tips for Building a Windows Phone App.

Although the development tools for the Windows Phone platform are the best in the industry for building mobile applications, the quality range of applications developed for Windows Phone is similar to other platforms. In this article, I'll explore some development "gotchas" and see why some apps (apart from content) achieve greater customer response than others. Some issues are code-related, while others are design-based.

And it's these design issues that the tips are based aroud. From layout and on screen controls, to UI threads and tombstoning, this is a handy intro for those new to the platform, and doubles up as a good checklist for more experienced developers.

And if you only had to remember one tip, I think Zilberman repeats himself enough that even I picked up on it. Make every margin 24 pixels in width.