1---2name: design-review3description: Review a web app or page for visual design quality — layout, typography, spacing, colour, hierarchy, consistency, interaction patterns, and responsive behaviour. Not a UX audit (that checks usability) — this checks whether it looks professional and polished. Produces a design findings report with screenshots. Triggers: 'design review', 'does this look good', 'review the design', 'check the layout', 'is this polished', 'visual review', 'design audit', 'make it look better', 'it looks off'.4license: Unspecified5---6# Design Review78Review a web app or page for visual design quality. This is not a UX audit (usability, workflow, friction) — this checks whether the design is **professional, consistent, and polished**.910The goal: would a design-conscious person look at this and think "this is well made" or "this looks like a developer designed it"?1112## When to Use1314- Before showing something to a client or team15- When something "looks off" but you can't pinpoint why16- After building a feature, before calling it done17- Periodic quality check on a shipped product18- After a UX audit — this is the visual companion1920## Browser Tool Detection2122Same as ux-audit — Chrome MCP, Playwright MCP, or playwright-cli.2324## URL Resolution2526Same as ux-audit — prefer deployed/live over localhost.2728## What to Check2930### 1. Layout and Spacing3132| Check | Good | Bad |33|-------|------|-----|34| **Consistent spacing** | Same gap between all cards in a grid, same padding in all sections | Some cards have 16px gap, others 24px. Header padding differs from body |35| **Alignment** | Left edges of content align vertically across sections | Heading starts at one indent, body text at another, cards at a third |36| **Breathing room** | Generous whitespace around content, elements don't feel cramped | Text touching container edges, buttons crowded against inputs |37| **Grid discipline** | Content follows a clear column grid | Elements placed freely, no underlying structure |38| **Responsive proportions** | Sidebar/content ratio looks intentional at every width | Sidebar takes 50% on tablet, content is squeezed |39| **Vertical rhythm** | Consistent vertical spacing pattern (e.g. 8px/16px/24px/32px scale) | Random spacing: 13px here, 27px there, 8px somewhere else |4041### 2. Typography4243| Check | Good | Bad |44|-------|------|-----|45| **Hierarchy** | Clear visual difference between h1 → h2 → h3 → body | Headings and body text look the same size/weight |46| **Line length** | Body text 50-75 characters per line | Full-width text running 150+ characters — hard to read |47| **Line height** | Body text 1.5-1.7, headings 1.1-1.3 | Cramped text or excessive line height |48| **Font sizes** | Consistent scale (e.g. 14/16/20/24/32) | Random sizes: 15px, 17px, 22px with no relationship |49| **Weight usage** | Regular for body, medium for labels, semibold for headings, bold sparingly | Everything bold, or everything regular with no hierarchy |50| **Truncation** | Long text truncates with ellipsis, title attribute shows full text | Text overflows container, wraps awkwardly, or is cut off without ellipsis |5152### 3. Colour and Contrast5354| Check | Good | Bad |55|-------|------|-----|56| **Semantic colour** | Using design tokens (bg-primary, text-muted-foreground) | Raw Tailwind colours (bg-blue-500, text-gray-300) |57| **Contrast ratio** | Text meets WCAG AA (4.5:1 for body, 3:1 for large text) | Light grey text on white, or dark text on dark backgrounds |58| **Colour consistency** | Same blue means the same thing everywhere (primary = action) | Blue means "clickable" in one place and "informational" in another |59| **Dark mode** | All elements visible, borders defined, no invisible text | Elements disappear, text becomes unreadable, images look wrong |60| **Status colours** | Green=success, yellow=warning, red=error consistently | Green used for both success and "active" with different meanings |61| **Colour overuse** | 2-3 colours + neutrals | Rainbow of colours with no clear hierarchy |6263### 4. Visual Hierarchy6465| Check | Good | Bad |66|-------|------|-----|67| **Primary action** | One clear CTA per page, visually dominant | Three equally styled buttons competing for attention |68| **Squint test** | Squinting at the page, the most important element stands out | Everything is the same visual weight — nothing draws the eye |69| **Progressive disclosure** | Most important info visible, details available on interaction | Everything shown at once — overwhelming |70| **Grouping** | Related items are visually grouped (proximity, borders, backgrounds) | Related items scattered, unrelated items touching |71| **Negative space** | Intentional empty space that frames content | Empty space that looks accidental (uneven, trapped white space) |7273### 5. Component Consistency7475| Check | Good | Bad |76|-------|------|-----|77| **Button styles** | One primary style, one secondary, one destructive — used consistently | 5 different button styles across the app |78| **Card styles** | All cards have the same border-radius, shadow, padding | Some cards rounded, some sharp, some with shadows, some without |79| **Form inputs** | All inputs same height, same border style, same focus ring | Mix of heights, border styles, focus behaviours |80| **Icon style** | One icon family (Lucide, Heroicons), consistent size and stroke | Mixed icon families, different sizes, some filled some outlined |81| **Border radius** | Consistent radius scale (e.g. 4px inputs, 8px cards, 12px modals) | Random radius values: 3px, 7px, 10px, 16px |82| **Shadow** | One or two shadow levels used consistently | Every component has a different shadow depth |8384### 6. Interaction Design8586| Check | Good | Bad |87|-------|------|-----|88| **Hover states** | Buttons, links, and clickable cards change on hover | No hover feedback — user unsure what's clickable |89| **Focus states** | Keyboard focus visible on all interactive elements | Focus ring missing or invisible against background |90| **Active states** | Nav items, tabs, sidebar links show current selection | Active item looks the same as inactive |91| **Transitions** | Subtle transitions on hover/focus (150-200ms ease) | No transitions (jarring) or slow transitions (laggy) |92| **Loading indicators** | Skeleton screens or spinners during async operations | Content pops in without warning, layout shifts |93| **Disabled states** | Disabled elements are visually muted, cursor changes | Disabled buttons look clickable, no cursor change |9495### 7. Responsive Quality9697| Check | Good | Bad |98|-------|------|-----|99| **Mobile nav** | Clean hamburger/sheet menu, easy to tap | Desktop nav squished into mobile, tiny tap targets |100| **Image scaling** | Images fill containers proportionally | Images stretched, cropped badly, or overflowing |101| **Table responsiveness** | Horizontal scroll on mobile, or stack to cards | Table wider than screen with no way to see columns |102| **Touch targets** | At least 44x44px on mobile | Tiny links, close buttons, checkboxes |103| **Tablet** | Layout works at 768px (not just desktop and phone) | Layout breaks at tablet widths, awkward gaps |104105## Severity Guide106107| Level | Meaning | Example |108|-------|---------|---------|109| **High** | Looks broken or unprofessional | Invisible text in dark mode, buttons different heights inline |110| **Medium** | Looks unpolished | Inconsistent spacing, mixed icon styles, truncation without ellipsis |111| **Low** | Nitpick | 1-2px alignment, slightly different border-radius, shadow too strong |112113## Output114115Write findings to `.jez/artifacts/design-review.md`:116117```markdown118# Design Review: [App Name]119**Date**: YYYY-MM-DD120**URL**: [url]121122## Overall Impression123[1-2 sentences — professional / unpolished / inconsistent / clean]124125## Findings126127### High128- **[issue]** at [page/component] — [what's wrong] → [fix]129130### Medium131- **[issue]** at [page/component] — [what's wrong] → [fix]132133### Low134- **[issue]** — [description]135136## What Looks Good137[Patterns that are well-executed and should be preserved]138139## Top 3 Fixes1401. [highest visual impact change]1412. [second]1423. [third]143```144145Take screenshots of findings where the issue is visual (most of them).146147## Tips148149- Check dark mode AND light mode — most issues appear in one but not the other150- The squint test is the fastest way to find hierarchy problems151- Component inconsistency is the most common issue in dev-built UIs152- "Looks off" usually means spacing — check margins and padding first153- If you can't identify the issue, compare to a well-designed app in the same category
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