With Salesforce Winter ’16 release now being generally available, you probably would have tried your hands at Salesforce Lightning.

For ISVs, the Salesforce Lightning Experience is a brand new, amazing opportunity on the Force.com platform. As web applications are taking more advantage of the app-centric model, you’ll want to use the new Lightning components in your development work.

User experience (UX) is one of the most important aspects of this initiative but there are many more aspects to come as part of the roadmap.

So what does this mean for your existing app? Many apps feature customizations, including custom objects, custom buttons, Visualforce pages. To be certified for the Lightning Experience release, ISVs need to test their apps to ensure functionality continues working properly in the new experience. Partners can also get their apps designated as “Lightning Ready”. Apps that are Lightning Ready will work in Lightning Experience and offer a more consistent experience with other Lightning pages. If your app uses standard Salesforce UI, objects, page layouts, but no custom Visualforce pages, then you should expect them to display properly in the new Lightning Experience with the new look and feel. In general, Visualforce pages will work in the new UI, but they should be tested to ensure all features are properly supported and functioning correctly.

To earn the Lightning Ready certification, Visualforce pages in apps should be updated to offer a more consistent user experience with Lightning. To assist in this effort, Salesforce has published the Lightning Design System, which is formal documentation around all the styles that make up the Lightning Experience across all form factors. The Lightning Design System is available to all through an open-source project on GitHub for Dreamforce. It can be used to design apps built on the Salesforce Platform as well as on other platforms.

To help customers easily identify apps that work in the new experience, Salesforce has introduced a new “Lightning Ready” sash for apps. This sash indicates what apps have been certified as “Lightning Ready” and therefore will work in the new Lightning Experience and offer a consistent user experience.

To get started, visit the developer trail for learning how to create Lightning Components, building with Lightning App Builder and Visualforce, and making all of your apps modern and beautiful with the new Lightning Design System. There is also a developer trail to help you in deciding if Lightning Experience is right for your app.

About Ambit

Ambit is a Salesforce partner with a large pool of resources dedicated to enabling ISVs on the Force.com platform. To know more about how we can help you get Lightning Ready, click here.