Posthog Analytics

Product World

• Who: Engineers who debug user flows by watching session replays. Product managers who run A/B tests without bugging engineering. Growth teams who build funnels. Open-source enthusiasts who self-host everything. They chose PostHog because it's open-source, self-hostable, and doesn't cost $50K/year.
• What: Open-source product analytics suite — session replay, feature flags, A/B testing, surveys, data warehouse — all in one platform
• Vibe: GitHub meets Notion — developer-beloved, anti-corporate, playful hedgehog mascot energy. The Basecamp of analytics: opinionated, transparent, irreverent
• Domain conventions: Event-based analytics, funnel stages, cohort retention, feature flag rollout percentages, NPS scores, p-values for experiments, session timeline events (pageview, click, rage click, scroll)

Core Principle

Developer tools should feel like they were built by developers who hate enterprise software — playful, fast, transparent, no-BS.

Visual Vibe

Energetic, anti-corporate, hacker-friendly, yellow-bright, bold, approachable, community-driven, open-source-proud, irreverent, mascot-driven

What It's NOT

• NOT a corporate enterprise dashboard (no navy blue + gray + stock photos of boardrooms)
• NOT a slick VC-funded startup with smooth gradients and vague promises (this ships real code)
• NOT Amplitude/Mixpanel clone aesthetic (no dark analytics dashboards trying to look "powerful")
• NOT generic SaaS template (no hero -> features grid -> testimonials -> pricing -> CTA)
• NOT minimalist to the point of being sterile — PostHog has personality, character, humor
• NOT using warm cream/beige backgrounds — this is white + yellow + black, crisp and energetic

Section Archetypes

• Product demo browser: Tabbed interface showing actual product UI (analytics, session replay, feature flags, A/B tests, surveys) in a mock browser window
• Self-host callout: Docker compose snippet + "own your data" messaging — code as content
• Community proof: Real team photos, open-source stats (GitHub stars, MIT license), remote-first culture
• Generous pricing: Emphasize the free tier first, pay-per-event simplicity second
• Session replay showcase: Animated cursor movement, click timeline, rage-click detection

Hero Archetype

Install command as hero + hedgehog mascot badge. WHY: developers evaluate tools by trying them, not reading about them. The one-line npm install IS the call to action. The hedgehog badge establishes the anti-corporate personality immediately.

Asset Direction

• Photography: Real team/community photos — people collaborating, remote work setups, hackathons. Full color, not grayscale. Should feel candid and energetic, not staged corporate.
• Data-as-visual: Product UI mocks are the primary visual — analytics dashboards, session replay timelines, feature flag tables, experiment results with real p-values. This IS the visual asset.
• Video: Product demo or team culture clips. Visible at 0.5+ opacity with gradient overlay for text readability.
• Code blocks: Docker compose configs, npm install commands, posthog-js snippets — dark background, syntax highlighted
• What NOT to show: Stock photos of dashboards on screens, generic "data visualization" imagery, abstract gradient art. The actual product UI is more compelling than any metaphor.

Typography

• Urbanist (700-800) for display — bold, geometric, energetic. It has the roundness that matches the hedgehog mascot's approachability without being childish. Most dev tools use sharp geometric sans; Urbanist's warmth signals "we're different."
• IBM Plex Sans (400-600) for body — credible, readable, the grown-up in the room. Balances Urbanist's playfulness with technical authority.
• IBM Plex Mono (400-500) for code — natural partner to Plex Sans, consistent with the engineering-first identity

Color

• Yellow oklch(85% 0.18 85) — PostHog's signature. Used for badges, highlights, mascot background, playful accents. The anti-blue. Communicates energy, optimism, standing out from the navy-blue analytics crowd
• PostHog Blue oklch(45% 0.25 265) — CTAs and links. Deep, confident blue that contrasts sharply with yellow
• Black oklch(12% 0.005 85) — Text and dark UI sections. Warm-tinted very subtly toward yellow for cohesion
• White oklch(99% 0 0) — Primary background. Clean, not warm-tinted (the yellow accents provide all the warmth needed)
• Warm white oklch(97% 0.02 85) — Secondary surfaces, pricing cards, stats strip
• Red oklch(60% 0.22 30) — Errors, rage clicks, alerts. Semantic, not decorative
• Green oklch(70% 0.18 145) — Success states, active flags, positive metrics

Bold Choices

1. Tilted badges — Yellow badges with slight CSS rotation (rotate(-1deg)) and black borders. Playful, hand-drawn feel without actual hand-drawn elements
2. Hedgehog everywhere — The mascot emoji appears in badges, CTAs, footer. It's the brand's personality anchor
3. Install command as hero CTA — Not "Get started" button but actual npm install in a terminal block
4. Product tabs with mock browser — Complete with traffic light dots and URL bar. The product IS the marketing
5. Black-bordered yellow accents — Yellow + 2px black border on badges and CTAs gives a sticker/patch aesthetic
6. Hover-to-reveal chart values — Chart bars show values on hover via ::after pseudo-element
7. Rage click highlighting — Session replay timeline distinguishes rage clicks with red-tinted event cards
8. Squiggle underline on "open-source" — Yellow bar under the hero headline keyword, slightly rotated

Workflow

1. Read https://joincommons.cc/api/items/posthog-analytics/raw/design-language for the full visual system
2. Read references/asset-direction.md for asset sourcing guidance
3. Build following the product world and design system above
4. Self-critique against https://joincommons.cc/api/items/posthog-analytics/raw/anti-patterns

Gotchas

• Do NOT make this look corporate. If it looks like it could be Salesforce, start over
• Yellow is an ACCENT, not a background. White or black backgrounds; yellow for highlights, badges, and small elements
• The hedgehog is not a decoration — it's brand personality. Include it but don't overdo it (3-5 instances)
• Product demos must show REAL analytics UI patterns (funnels, events, flags) not abstract data
• Code blocks must be syntactically plausible — engineers will notice fake code instantly
• Don't use warm cream/beige backgrounds — the playful yellow accents against clean white IS the aesthetic