Design Critique

Design Critique

Provide structured, actionable design feedback using established design principles. Balances praise with constructive criticism — always explain why something works or doesn't.

Critique Framework

Evaluate designs across these dimensions, in priority order:

1. Usability & Clarity

• Can the user accomplish their goal? Is the primary action obvious?
• Information hierarchy: Is the most important content the most prominent?
• Cognitive load: How many decisions does the user need to make? Can any be removed?
• Learnability: Would a first-time user understand this without instructions?
• Error prevention: Does the design prevent mistakes before they happen?
• Feedback: Does the UI communicate state changes (loading, success, error)?

2. Visual Hierarchy & Layout

• F-pattern / Z-pattern: Does the layout follow natural scanning patterns?
• Spacing & proximity: Are related elements grouped? Is there enough whitespace?
• Alignment: Are elements aligned to a consistent grid?
• Contrast & emphasis: Do size, weight, and color guide the eye correctly?
• Consistency: Are similar elements styled the same way?

3. Typography

• Readability: Is body text 16px+ on web? Line height 1.4-1.6x? Line length 50-75 characters?
• Hierarchy: Are there clear distinctions between heading levels?
• Font pairing: Do the typefaces complement each other (max 2-3 fonts)?
• Weight distribution: Is bold used sparingly and purposefully?

4. Color & Contrast

• Palette coherence: Is the color palette limited and intentional?
• Semantic color: Do colors convey meaning consistently (red=error, green=success)?
• Contrast ratios: Does text meet WCAG AA (4.5:1 for normal, 3:1 for large)?
• Dark mode consideration: Does the palette translate to dark mode?

5. Interaction Design

• Affordance: Do interactive elements look clickable/tappable?
• Feedback loops: Hover states, active states, focus states — are they all defined?
• Transitions: Are state changes smooth and meaningful (not decorative)?
• Touch targets: Are targets at least 44x44px with adequate spacing?
• Progressive disclosure: Is complexity revealed gradually?

6. Responsiveness & Adaptability

• Breakpoint behavior: How does the layout adapt at mobile/tablet/desktop?
• Content reflow: Does content stack sensibly on narrow viewports?
• Image scaling: Do images resize without distortion or overflow?
• Navigation patterns: Does navigation adapt appropriately (hamburger, tab bar)?

Critique Process

Phase 1 — Understand Context

Before critiquing, establish:

1. What is this? (landing page, dashboard, form, modal, flow?)
2. Who is the user? (new user, power user, admin?)
3. What is the goal? (convert, inform, complete a task?)
4. If $ARGUMENTS provides a file, read/view it. Ask for context if insufficient.

Phase 2 — Evaluate

Walk through each dimension above. Not every dimension applies to every design — focus on what's relevant.

Phase 3 — Report

Structure feedback using this format:

## Design Critique — {design name or description}

### Context
- **Type**: {landing page / dashboard / form / modal / flow}
- **Target user**: {who}
- **Primary goal**: {what the user should accomplish}

### What Works Well
- {Specific praise with reasoning — "The CTA placement is strong because..."}
- {At least 2-3 positives}

### Needs Improvement

#### High Impact
- **{Issue}**: {what's wrong and why it matters}
  - **Suggestion**: {specific, actionable fix}

#### Medium Impact
- **{Issue}**: {description}
  - **Suggestion**: {fix}

#### Low Impact / Polish
- **{Issue}**: {description}
  - **Suggestion**: {fix}

### Design Principles Applied
- {Which principles inform the critique — Fitts's Law, Hick's Law, Gestalt, etc.}

### Overall Assessment
{1-2 sentences: overall quality and single most impactful change to make}

Tone Guidelines

• Be specific: "The 12px gray text on white background is hard to read" not "the text is hard to read"
• Explain why: Ground every critique in a principle, heuristic, or user impact
• Be constructive: Always pair problems with solutions
• Prioritize: Don't list 30 issues — focus on the 5-8 that matter most
• Respect intent: Understand what the designer was trying to achieve before suggesting changes
• No subjective preferences: "I don't like blue" is not valid feedback. "Blue connotes trust — consider whether that aligns with your brand" is.

Reference: Design Heuristics

Use these when grounding feedback:

Quality Checklist

• Output is specific and actionable, not generic
• All relevant inputs have been gathered before producing output
• Recommendations are prioritized by impact
• Stakeholders and audience are identified
• Output format matches the audience's needs
• Key assumptions are documented
• Follow-up actions have clear owners

Edge Cases

• If input data is incomplete, state assumptions explicitly and flag gaps
• For time-sensitive situations, prioritize speed over comprehensiveness
• If multiple stakeholders have conflicting needs, document the tradeoffs
• For first-time use, start with a simplified version and iterate
• Adapt the depth and detail to the audience's expertise level