The elements of UX - C7

The Surface Plane

• The surface plane focuses on sensory design, appealing to the user's senses, with visual design being the most common focus.
• Visual design should support the objectives from other planes, not just aesthetic preferences, and reinforce the product's structure and brand identity.

Visual Design Principles

• The user's eye movement should follow a smooth, guided flow without overwhelming detail.
• Contrast is used to draw attention to essential elements, clarify relationships, and communicate conceptual groups.
• Elements that are different stand out, but the difference must be significant to avoid confusion.
• Uniformity ensures clarity and effectiveness by maintaining consistency in sizes, layouts, and design treatments.

Layout and Consistency

• Grid-based layouts are a useful technique for ensuring uniformity.
• Internal consistency aligns design elements across contexts within the product, ensuring a cohesive look and feel.
• External consistency presents a cohesive brand identity across different media, aligning with the company's overall style and image.

Color and Typography

• Color palettes and typography are key tools for communicating brand identity and creating usable designs.
• Colors should be distinct enough to differentiate elements.
• Typography should be simple for body text and consistent in usage.

Design Comps and Style Guides

• Design comps are visual mock-ups showing how components work together, correlating with wireframes from the skeleton plane.
• Style guides are the definitive documentation of all visual design decisions, ensuring consistency and preserving design knowledge within the organization.
• Style guides are particularly important for decentralized organizations to maintain a unified look and feel.

The Surface Plane in User Experience Design

• The surface plane is where all decisions from other planes come together into a finished design that engages the user's senses.
• By focusing on creating a cohesive, consistent, and purposeful sensory experience, designers can create products that are both effective and appealing to use.
• The surface plane is the culmination of the user experience design process, bringing the product to life for the user.