Design Critique Polish

Design Critique Polish

Run a deliberate critique pass before shipping. This is not a vague “make it nicer” prompt.

Use For

• pre-ship review of a frontend surface;
• critique after implementation but before release;
• “this feels off, but I do not know why” situations;
• tightening hierarchy, spacing, typography, copy, motion, and edge states.

Inputs

Take:

• the page, component, or route to review;
• screenshots, live URL, or repo files;
• current PRODUCT.md / DESIGN.md if available;
• known constraints: ship date, design system, browser targets, accessibility requirements.

Critique Order

Evaluate in this order:

1. Surface fit
   • does this look like the right class of product or brand?
2. Hierarchy
   • can a first-time user tell what matters first?
3. Layout and rhythm
   • spacing, grouping, alignment, section cadence, empty space.
4. Typography
   • font choice, scale, line length, display/body contrast, overflow.
5. Color and contrast
   • palette discipline, readable text, accent overuse, weak affordances.
6. States and resilience
   • hover, focus, loading, empty, error, disabled, overflow, long labels.
7. Motion and interaction
   • helpful versus noisy; reduced-motion handling. If the diff materially changes transitions, keyframes, gestures, Lottie, popovers, toasts, or hover/press motion, run motion-review-gate as the dedicated review pass.
8. Technical quality
   • responsive behavior, accessibility signals, obvious performance issues.

Output Mode

Produce:

• what works
• what fails
• highest-leverage fixes first
• ship blockers

Keep findings concrete. Name the surface, the defect, and the consequence.

Fix Strategy

• Prefer small, high-leverage corrections over full rewrites.
• If the core design language is wrong, say so explicitly instead of endlessly polishing local details.
• If the page is good enough to ship, say that too and focus on blockers only.

Common Frontend Tells To Catch

• same card pattern repeated everywhere;
• weak first viewport with no real anchor;
• gray text that reads low-contrast on tinted backgrounds;
• spacing that is mechanically even instead of rhythmic;
• headings that overflow or collapse on tablet/mobile;
• decorative motion without task value;
• UI copy that sounds like implementation notes rather than product language.

Final Report

Include:

• top issues ordered by severity;
• what should change now versus later;
• whether the surface is ship-ready;
• what to verify in-browser after changes.