Design Audit

Design Audit

The final checkpoint. Loaded by /genjutsu:paint at the end of the pipeline. Scans the codebase for motion gaps, a11y violations, perf issues, and inconsistencies.

Motion Gap Analysis

Run these greps against the project to detect missing animations.

Conditional renders without AnimatePresence

grep -rn '{.*&&\s*<\|{.*?\s*:\s*<\|{.*ternary.*<' --include='*.tsx' --include='*.jsx' src/ | grep -v 'AnimatePresence'

Look for: {show && <Component />} or ternary renders without a wrapping <AnimatePresence>. Every conditional mount/unmount needs exit animation support.

Hover states without transition

grep -rn ':hover' --include='*.css' --include='*.scss' --include='*.module.css' src/ | grep -vE 'transition|animation'

Every :hover rule must have a corresponding transition on the base selector. Instant state flips feel broken.

Dynamic lists without stagger

grep -rn '\.map(' --include='*.tsx' --include='*.jsx' src/ | grep -vE 'stagger|delay.*index|variants|transition.*delay'

Lists rendered via .map() should stagger their entrance. Simultaneous pop-in looks cheap.

Style changes without transition

grep -rn 'style={{' --include='*.tsx' --include='*.jsx' src/ | grep -vE 'transition|transform|opacity'

Inline style changes (e.g., dynamic background, color) need a CSS transition or motion wrapper.

Entries without corresponding exits

grep -rn 'initial=' --include='*.tsx' --include='*.jsx' src/ | grep -v 'exit='

Every Framer Motion initial + animate should have an exit prop when inside AnimatePresence.

Accessibility Audit

Reduced motion - MANDATORY

A project with animation MUST have at least one global handler matching its stack. Run all 3 greps:

# Web
grep -rn 'prefers-reduced-motion' --include='*.css' --include='*.scss' --include='*.ts' --include='*.tsx' --include='*.js' --include='*.jsx' src/ 2>/dev/null

# SwiftUI / UIKit
grep -rn 'accessibilityReduceMotion\|isReduceMotionEnabled\|reduceMotionStatusDidChangeNotification' --include='*.swift' . 2>/dev/null

# Compose
grep -rn 'LocalAccessibilityManager\|isReduceTransitions\|TRANSITION_ANIMATION_SCALE\|ANIMATOR_DURATION_SCALE\|areAnimatorsEnabled' --include='*.kt' . 2>/dev/null

Zero results across all 3 in an animated project = critical violation. At least one handler must exist somewhere. Cross-reference motion-principles/SKILL.md for canonical implementations per stack.

Contrast ratio 4.5:1

• Use browser DevTools (Inspect > color swatch > contrast ratio)
• Run npx pa11y <url> or Lighthouse accessibility audit
• Check animated text at mid-transition -- fading text must remain readable at every opacity above 0.4

Focus visible on all interactives

grep -rn 'outline:\s*none\|outline:\s*0' --include='*.css' --include='*.scss' --include='*.module.css' src/

Any outline: none MUST be paired with a custom :focus-visible style. Removing focus rings without replacement is a WCAG failure.

Semantic HTML -- no clickable divs

grep -rn 'onClick' --include='*.tsx' --include='*.jsx' src/ | grep -E '<div|<span' | grep -v 'role='

Every <div onClick> or <span onClick> must either be a <button>, an <a>, or have role="button" + tabIndex + onKeyDown.

ARIA on decorative animations

grep -rn '<motion\.\|<animated\.\|<Lottie\|<Canvas' --include='*.tsx' --include='*.jsx' src/ | grep -v 'aria-hidden'

Purely decorative animations (background particles, ambient motion, Lottie illustrations) must have aria-hidden="true" to avoid polluting screen readers.

Performance Audit

Layout thrashing -- animating layout properties

grep -rn 'transition.*\(width\|height\|top\|left\|right\|bottom\|margin\|padding\)' --include='*.css' --include='*.scss' --include='*.module.css' src/

Animating layout properties triggers reflow every frame. Replace with transform: translate/scale and opacity.

Excessive paint triggers

grep -rn 'will-change' --include='*.css' --include='*.scss' --include='*.module.css' src/

will-change should be rare and scoped. If more than ~5 elements use it permanently, the GPU memory cost outweighs the benefit. Apply it dynamically (add on hover/focus, remove on animation end).

Animation library bundle cost

Check actual impact:

npx source-map-explorer dist/**/*.js 2>/dev/null || npx vite-bundle-visualizer 2>/dev/null

Reference sizes (gzipped): framer-motion ~30KB, GSAP ~25KB, popmotion ~5KB, CSS-only = 0KB. If the project only uses fade+slide, a 30KB lib is overkill.

On mobile native, the APK / IPA size matters. A third-party animation library adds typically 500KB-2MB:

If the project only uses fades, slides, and springs, native APIs (Compose animate*AsState + spring, SwiftUI withAnimation) are sufficient. Justify a Lottie / Rive dependency only for genuinely complex pre-designed animations (e.g., onboarding illustrations).

requestAnimationFrame vs setTimeout

grep -rn 'setTimeout\|setInterval' --include='*.ts' --include='*.tsx' --include='*.js' --include='*.jsx' src/ | grep -iE 'anim\|motion\|scroll\|position\|style\|transform'

Animation loops must use requestAnimationFrame. setTimeout/setInterval causes frame drops and doesn't pause in background tabs.

Consistency Audit

Duration consistency

grep -rnoE 'duration[:"'''= ]+[0-9.]+' --include='*.tsx' --include='*.jsx' --include='*.ts' --include='*.css' --include='*.scss' src/ | sort -t: -k3 | uniq -c -f2 | sort -rn

A well-designed project uses 3-5 distinct durations max (e.g., 0.15, 0.25, 0.35, 0.5). If you see 15 different values, extract them into a motion tokens file.

Easing inventory

Run all 3 greps to inventory easing values across the codebase:

# Web (CSS / JS / TSX)
grep -rnoE 'ease[A-Za-z]*|cubic-bezier\([^)]+\)|spring\([^)]*\)' --include='*.tsx' --include='*.jsx' --include='*.ts' --include='*.css' --include='*.scss' src/ 2>/dev/null

# SwiftUI
grep -rnoE '\.spring\([^)]*\)|\.snappy|\.bouncy|\.smooth|\.linear\(|\.easeIn|\.easeOut|\.interpolatingSpring' --include='*.swift' . 2>/dev/null

# Compose
grep -rnoE 'spring\([^)]*\)|tween\([^)]*\)|FastOutSlowInEasing|LinearOutSlowInEasing|FastOutLinearInEasing|CubicBezierEasing' --include='*.kt' . 2>/dev/null

Same rule across all stacks: 3-5 named easings max in the design system. Random values scattered across files = visual inconsistency. If the codebase has 12 different cubic-bezier(...) values or 8 custom spring(response:dampingFraction:) configurations, that's a design-system violation, fix it by centralizing into named tokens.

Symmetric enter/exit

Scan for motion components and verify that:

• Enter duration >= exit duration (never the reverse)
• Enter uses ease-out, exit uses ease-in
• Enter has full choreography (translate + opacity + scale), exit is simpler (opacity only or opacity + slight scale)

grep -A5 'exit=' --include='*.tsx' --include='*.jsx' -rn src/

Compare animate and exit props side by side. Asymmetric timing (fast exit, slow enter) is correct. The reverse is wrong.

Stack-specific audit

Pick the subsection matching the project stack.

Compose (Android / Multiplatform)

• Run Layout Inspector (Android Studio): inspect recompositions, identify components recomposing on every state change.
• Run Macrobenchmark (androidx.benchmark.macro): measure frame timing on a real device under representative scrolling / animation load. Target: <16.67ms per frame at 60fps, <8.33ms at 120fps.
• Inspect recomposition counts via Modifier.recomposeHighlighter() (Compose 1.6+) or Layout Inspector.
• Generate Baseline Profiles (BaselineProfileGenerator) for production builds.
• Verify Modifier.semantics is set on custom components (TalkBack support).

SwiftUI (iOS / macOS)

• Run Instruments Time Profiler: identify hot paths during animation (target: zero frames over 16.67ms).
• Run Instruments Hitches Instrument (iOS 14+): detects dropped frames and stalls.
• Run Instruments GPU Frame Capture for Metal shaders: verify shader compile time, GPU vs CPU bottleneck.
• Verify .accessibilityLabel / .accessibilityHint on every interactive view.
• Test with Dynamic Type at 200% size (Environment Overrides in Xcode).
• Test with Reduce Motion ON.

Web

• Existing checklist above (Lighthouse, Chrome DevTools Performance, etc.).

Output Format

Structure findings by severity:

Critical (must fix before ship)

• Missing prefers-reduced-motion handling
• Clickable divs without keyboard support
• outline: none without :focus-visible replacement
• Animating layout properties (width/height/top/left)

Important (fix in current sprint)

• Conditional renders without AnimatePresence
• Hover states without transition
• Missing aria-hidden on decorative animations
• setTimeout used for animation loops
• Inconsistent durations (>8 unique values)

Nice-to-have (backlog)

• Lists without stagger animation
• Inline styles without transition
• Excessive will-change usage
• Asymmetric enter/exit (wrong direction)
• Animation library oversized for actual usage