Veteran product designer Peter Skillman is leaving Microsoft

Peter Skillman is a well known figure in the product design world. He was the VP of Design when Palm revealed the webOS to the world. After leaving Palm, he joined Nokia to develop MeeGo OS design which was later scrapped by Nokia. Peter then became the design head of HERE Maps division at Nokia. In 2015, he joined Microsoft as the GM of Smart Things (IoT).

After few months, he became the General Manager of Core UX for Windows Desktop, Tablet and Phone. Under his leadership, we saw several new features and improvements including the new Share UI, much improved Action Center, Quick Action customization, Themes in the Microsoft Store, Pick Up Where You Left Off, improved Tablet mode and more. In 2017, he became the Director of Design for Skype. Under his leadership, Microsoft redesigned Skype experience across platforms. From desktop to mobile, Skype now has modern look and feel with improved user experience. Last year, Peter Skillman became the Director of Design Outlook. Similar to Skype, Outlook is now getting refreshed design across platforms. The popular Outlook Ribbon UX on Windows is getting simplified. Even Outlook for iOS recently got new design. You can read about his full work at Microsoft here.

Peter has now confirmed on Twitter that he has left Microsoft. Peter did not reveal which company he is jumping to, but he confirmed that he will be starting a new role in a few weeks. We will update this post with more details as soon as we have it.