Design Audit

Run systematic technical quality checks and generate a scored report. Don't fix issues — document them for other commands to address.

This is a code-level audit, not a design critique. Check what's measurable and verifiable in the implementation.

Preparation

Read ~/.claude/skills/minoan-frontend-design/SKILL.md for anti-pattern guidance. Check .design-context.md for project context if it exists.

Read the ignore list at .design-critique/ignore.md if it exists. Findings matching an ignore entry (case-insensitive substring) should be silently dropped — the user has already acknowledged them as deferred tradeoffs or accepted deviations.

Diagnostic Scan

Check 5 dimensions. Score each 0-4 using ~/.claude/skills/minoan-frontend-design/references/heuristics-scoring.md criteria.

1. Accessibility

• Contrast ratios < 4.5:1 (or 7:1 for AAA)
• Missing ARIA: interactive elements without proper roles, labels, states
• Keyboard: missing focus indicators, illogical tab order, keyboard traps
• Semantic HTML: heading hierarchy, landmarks, divs-as-buttons
• Form issues: inputs without labels, poor error messaging

Score: 0=Inaccessible, 1=Major gaps, 2=Partial effort, 3=WCAG AA mostly met, 4=WCAG AA fully met

2. Performance

• Layout thrashing: reading/writing layout properties in loops
• Expensive animations: casual layout-property animation, unbounded blur/filter/shadow effects, or effects that visibly drop frames
• Missing optimization: no lazy loading, unoptimized assets, missing will-change
• Bundle size: unnecessary imports, unused dependencies
• Render performance: unnecessary re-renders, missing memoization

Score: 0=Severe issues, 1=Major problems, 2=Partial optimization, 3=Mostly optimized, 4=Fast and lean

3. Responsive Design

• Fixed widths that break on mobile
• Touch targets < 44x44px
• Horizontal scroll on narrow viewports
• Missing breakpoints or mobile variants

Score: 0=Desktop-only, 1=Major failures, 2=Works on mobile with rough edges, 3=Responsive with minor issues, 4=Fluid across all viewports

4. Theming

• Hard-coded colors not using design tokens
• Broken dark mode or missing dark variants
• Inconsistent token usage, mixing token types
• Pure black (#000) or pure gray without tint

Score: 0=No theming, 1=Minimal tokens, 2=Inconsistent tokens, 3=Good with minor gaps, 4=Full token system

5. Anti-Patterns

Check against the rejection guidelines in the minoan skill and the full checklist in ~/.claude/skills/minoan-frontend-design/references/anti-patterns.md. Look for AI slop tells, side-tab borders, gradient text, generic fonts, and all other tells.

Score: 0=AI slop gallery (5+ tells), 1=Heavy AI aesthetic (3-4), 2=Some tells (1-2), 3=Mostly clean, 4=Distinctive and intentional

Report

Audit Health Score

Rating bands: 18-20 Excellent, 14-17 Good, 10-13 Acceptable, 6-9 Poor, 0-5 Critical

Anti-Patterns Verdict

Pass/fail: does this look AI-generated? List specific tells.

Findings by Severity

Tag every issue P0-P3. For each:

• [P?] Issue name
• Location: Component, file, line
• Category: Accessibility / Performance / Theming / Responsive / Anti-Pattern
• Impact: How it affects users
• Recommendation: How to fix

Systemic Issues

Recurring problems indicating gaps rather than one-off mistakes.

Positive Findings

What's working well — good practices to maintain.

Recommended Actions

List commands in priority order (P0 first). End with /design-polish if fixes were recommended.

For UX-level issues (hierarchy, emotional resonance, cognitive load), run /design-critique.

Re-run /design-audit after fixes to see your score improve.