Design QA Checklist

Design QA Checklist

Design QA catches drift between design intent and shipped code before it compounds into a product that looks 90% right everywhere and fully right nowhere. The costly failure is an unordered spot-check: motion gets polished while the grid underneath is wrong, so half the findings are invalidated by the layout fix. Run the pass in order - layout first, because layout errors move everything downstream - and file every deviation with expected vs. actual values, not adjectives.

Operating procedure

Step 1: Gather inputs

• The design source of truth (Figma file, spec, or design-handoff-doc output) and the build URL or branch.
• The token set (spacing scale, type scale, color tokens, motion tokens). If none exists, note that and QA against explicit spec values; flag "no token system" as its own finding.
• Supported breakpoints and the narrowest supported viewport (default: 320px).
• Whether dark mode and motion specs exist (default: assume light mode only, no motion spec - label as assumption).

Step 2: Layout pass

• Every margin, padding, and gap matches its token or explicit spec value (space-4 = 16px, not 15px or 18px). Tolerance: any deviation greater than 2px is a defect. Deviations of 2px or less at fractional zoom may be sub-pixel rendering - re-measure at 100% zoom and 1x density before filing.
• Grid columns, gutters, and container max-widths correct at every breakpoint.
• Alignment verified with a grid overlay or devtools ruler, not eyeballing.
• Flag every magic-number hardcoded value that should reference a token.
• Resize from 320px to the widest supported viewport: zero horizontal overflow anywhere.

Step 3: Typography pass

• Font family, weight, size, line-height, and letter-spacing match spec exactly - type values are tokens, so the tolerance is zero, not 2px.
• No system fallback fonts rendering in place of the intended typeface (check computed styles, not appearance).
• Truncation behavior on long strings matches design: ellipsize, wrap, or clip as specified. Test with a 3x-length string.
• Heading hierarchy semantically correct (H1 > H2 > H3) even where visual sizes differ.

Step 4: Color pass

• Every color references a design token, not a raw hex. Flag raw hex values in CSS or Tailwind arbitrary values.
• Semantic tokens used correctly: surface-danger on error states, not red-500.
• Contrast meets WCAG AA: 4.5:1 for body text, 3:1 for large text and UI components. Measure with a contrast checker; do not estimate.
• Both light and dark modes checked if supported - dark mode defects are as blocking as light.

Step 5: States pass

• Hover, focus, active, disabled, and loading states all implemented and matching spec. Tolerance: a missing state is a blocking defect, not a nice-to-have - a button with no focus state fails keyboard users, and a missing loading state reads as a hang.
• Focus rings visible and styled; never outline: none without an equivalent replacement.
• Disabled controls genuinely non-interactive (not just visually muted) and excluded from tab order.
• Empty and error states of data-driven components render as designed, not as blank space or raw error text.

Step 6: Motion pass

• Transitions match specified duration and easing from the motion spec. Tolerance: duration deviation over 10% or a wrong easing curve is a defect; if no motion spec exists, flag inconsistent durations across similar interactions.
• Animations respect prefers-reduced-motion.
• No layout shift during enter/exit animations.

Step 7: Content and platform pass

• Copy matches approved content: no lorem ipsum, no placeholder labels, no double spaces or straight quotes where curly are specced.
• Touch targets at least 44x44px on mobile - buttons, links, icon controls.
• Images sharp at 1x, 1.5x, and 2x pixel density; alt text descriptive, decorative images alt="".
• Form inputs have visible associated labels, not placeholder-only.
• Automated accessibility pass (axe or Lighthouse) run; all violations reviewed before sign-off. Deep conformance work routes to accessibility-audit.

Step 8: File the defect log

Every finding gets: location (file path, component name, or URL + selector), expected value with source, actual value as measured, severity. Severity rubric: Blocker = missing state, broken layout, contrast failure, overflow; Major = wrong token, spacing off by more than 2px, wrong truncation; Minor = sub-token polish visible only side-by-side.

Worked defect entries

Bad:  "Card padding looks off on mobile" - no location, no values, unactionable.

Good: [Major] PricingCard (components/PricingCard.tsx) - padding
      Expected: space-6 (24px) per Figma frame "Pricing / Card"
      Actual:   20px hardcoded
      Note: exceeds 2px tolerance; also a magic number - should reference token.

Good: [Blocker] Primary button - missing states
      Expected: hover, focus, disabled per spec p.4
      Actual:   hover only; outline: none on focus with no replacement

Deliverable

Produce a defect log covering all seven passes in order, each entry with location, expected vs. actual, and severity - plus a sign-off verdict: ship, ship with listed minors, or blocked with the blocker list.

Do NOT

• Do not QA out of order; motion and color findings on a broken layout get invalidated by the layout fix.
• Do not file findings as adjectives ("feels cramped") - every entry needs a measured actual and a sourced expected.
• Do not wave through missing states because the happy path looks right; states are where implementations quietly diverge most.
• Do not eyeball spacing or contrast; use the ruler and the contrast checker every time.
• Do not let this pass substitute for accessibility-audit - Step 7 is a baseline, not conformance.

Quality bar

• All seven passes completed in order, none skipped silently - a skipped pass is declared with a reason.
• Every defect has location, expected (with source), actual (as measured), and severity.
• Zero unfiled deviations beyond tolerance: over 2px spacing, any missing state, any contrast failure.
• The 320px-to-max resize and the 1x/1.5x/2x density checks were actually performed.
• The verdict is one of ship / ship-with-minors / blocked, never "mostly fine".