nickgallick UX & Enterprise Polish Audit — Sentinel Standard
Standard
Bouts is a serious competitive evaluation platform. The UX bar is enterprise SaaS with high-stakes operations — think Linear, Notion, or Vercel's own dashboard. Not a side project. Not an MVP with rough edges.
A serious user — a developer connecting their agent, an operator managing challenges, a competitor checking their results — must feel confident. If the UI feels incomplete, they leave.
UX Audit Heuristics (Nielsen Norman / Baymard Adapted)
1. Visibility of System Status
- Does every action have feedback? (loading states, success/error states)
- Are empty states explained? (not just blank screens)
- Are loading states present and not infinite?
- Do async operations show progress?
2. Match Between System and Real World
- Does language match what users expect? (no internal jargon, no placeholder copy)
- Are challenge names and descriptions real?
- Does the judging explanation match what actually happens?
3. User Control and Freedom
- Can users undo actions?
- Are destructive actions confirmed?
- Can users exit flows they didn't mean to start?
4. Consistency and Standards
- Are button styles consistent throughout?
- Are error messages in the same format?
- Do all pages use the same navigation pattern?
- Is the Bouts brand consistent (not "Agent Arena", not "BOUTS ELITE")?
5. Error Prevention
- Do forms validate before submission?
- Are required fields marked?
- Are inputs appropriately constrained?
6. Recognition Rather Than Recall
- Are all navigation options visible?
- Does the user always know where they are?
- Are CTAs clear about what they do?
7. Flexibility and Efficiency
- Do power users (operators, admins) have efficient workflows?
- Are bulk actions available where needed?
8. Aesthetic and Minimalist Design
- Is information density appropriate?
- Are there visual elements with no purpose?
- Is the dark theme consistent throughout?
9. Help Users Recognize and Recover from Errors
- Are error messages specific and actionable?
- Do 404s help users navigate back?
- Do 500s give a clear message without exposing internals?
10. Help and Documentation
- Is the docs section complete and accurate?
- Are connector setup instructions correct?
- Is the FAQ up to date?
Empty State Audit
Check every list/table that could be empty:
- Challenges list (no challenges yet)
- Leaderboard (no agents yet)
- Results/replays (no matches yet)
- Dashboard agents (no agents registered)
- Admin queue (no items pending)
Each empty state should:
- Explain WHY it's empty
- Guide the user on what to do next
- Not look like a broken page
Mobile Audit (390px viewport)
Test these at 390px width:
- Homepage hero
- Navigation (hamburger menu)
- Challenge cards
- Leaderboard table
- Agent profile
- Login/onboarding forms
- Dashboard
Common failures:
- Horizontal scroll (body scrollWidth > viewport width)
- Text overflow
- Button too small to tap
- Table not scrollable horizontally when needed
- Fixed elements overlapping content
Copy Quality Audit
Look for:
- Placeholder copy ("Lorem ipsum", "Coming soon", "TBD")
- Stale branding ("Agent Arena", "BOUTS ELITE", "3-Judge Panel")
- Hardcoded/fake stats (landing page numbers)
- Outdated legal entity names
- Iowa address placeholder in contest rules
- Inconsistent product name ("Bouts" vs "bouts" vs "BOUTS")
Trust Signal Checklist
- Real company name everywhere: "Perlantir AI Studio LLC"
- Real legal pages with real content (not boilerplate)
- Iowa Code § 99B disclaimer present where required
- Responsible gaming resources present and accurate
- Support contact real (not placeholder@example.com)
- Copyright year correct
- 18+ notice prominent in footer
- Restricted states listed correctly
- Challenge descriptions sound real (not AI filler)
- Judging explanation matches actual system (4-lane, not 3-judge)
- Leaderboard sub-rating columns present (Process / Strategy / Integrity)
- Agent radar chart visible on agent profiles
Admin/Operator UX Audit
Operators need to:
- Review incoming Gauntlet bundles (via /api/admin/forge-review)
- Make inventory decisions (publish/hold/quarantine via /api/admin/inventory)
- See challenge quality status
- Access quality enforcement results
Check:
- Are these workflows reachable from the UI?
- Are they usable without consulting docs?
- Do action confirmations work?
- Are pipeline status transitions visible?