Veneer Expression Model Concept

Three questions to the project team

What was the particular challenge of the project from a UX point of view?
The central UX challenge was balancing user needs that vary by context with the need for continuity across HP experiences. HP’s products, services, and communication contexts require different forms of expression, yet when teams define expression independently, customers must repeatedly interpret and re-learn visual signals. A fully standardized approach reduces relevance, while unrestricted variation reduces predictability. The challenge was to create a model that enables expression to adapt to context while preserving clarity, recognition, and a coherent experience across HP’s ecosystem.

What was your personal highlight in the development process? Was there an aha!-moment, was there a low point?
The biggest aha moment came when we realized we were designing an illustration system to solve what was actually a communication problem. As the project evolved, it became clear that the challenge was not creating more assets or defining visual styles, but establishing a shared logic for how expression adapts across experiences. Continuing in the original direction began to feel like a missed opportunity because it addressed the output rather than the underlying need. That realization fundamentally changed the project, transforming it from an illustration system into the Veneer Expression Model.

Where do you see yourself and the project in the next five years?
Over the next five years, we see the Veneer Expression Model evolving beyond illustration into a broader framework for adaptive visual communication. The same principles that govern illustration today could help guide motion systems, iconography, data visualization, and other forms of brand expression across HP experiences. More importantly, we see the project shifting the conversation from defining visual outputs to defining how expression behaves. Success would mean adaptive expression becomes a shared capability that helps teams create coherent experiences across products, services, and future forms of communication.