Frontend Design

Frontend Design

Build distinctive, production-grade frontend interfaces that avoid generic "AI slop" aesthetics. The method: pick a bold aesthetic direction, apply a color formula, pair typography deliberately, specify interaction states, and execute with precision. Bold maximalism and refined minimalism both work — the key is intentionality, not intensity.

When to use

• Building web components, pages, or applications (HTML/CSS/JS, React, Vue, Svelte, etc.)
• Choosing a design direction, color palette, or typography system for a project
• Reviewing UI for visual quality, accessibility, or interaction polish
• Implementing responsive layouts, dark mode, or platform-specific conventions (Apple HIG, Material)
• Triggers on "frontend", "UI design", "组件设计", "界面设计", "前端设计", "视觉风格"

Not for: pure data visualization (use dataviz); backend logic with no visual surface; API contract design (use api-design). Visually important web work where image-first is preferred (use image-to-code).

Steps

1. Define the element and project context

Before coding, commit to a bold aesthetic direction. Answer:

• Element: What are you building? (button, card, modal, navbar, page, full app)
• Purpose: What problem does this interface solve? Who uses it?
• Tone: Pick an extreme — brutally minimal, maximalist, retro-futuristic, organic, luxury, playful, editorial, brutalist, art deco, industrial. Commit fully; never default to "safe."
• Differentiation: What makes this UNFORGETTABLE? The one thing someone will remember.

Match implementation complexity to the vision: maximalist designs need elaborate code; minimalist designs need restraint and precision. NEVER use generic AI aesthetics — overused fonts (Inter, Roboto, Arial), purple gradients on white, rounded-2xl everything, stock card grids, lorem ipsum.

• Load [references/brief-inference.md](references/brief-inference.md) for the design-read protocol (infer page kind, audience, vibe, constraints before coding) and the three dials (DESIGNVARIANCE, MOTIONINTENSITY, VISUAL_DENSITY) that gate layout, motion, and density
• Load [references/design-foundations.md](references/design-foundations.md) §Perception & Gestalt and §Hierarchy & Layout for the visual-organization principles beneath layout — Gestalt laws, the four hierarchy techniques, F/Z reading patterns, the squint and 5-second tests, CRAP expanded
• Load [references/design-foundations.md](references/design-foundations.md) §Cognitive Laws for the psychology laws that constrain layout — Hick's, Fitts's, Miller's 7±2, Tesler, Von Restorff, cognitive load types, progressive disclosure
• Load [references/ux-research.md](references/ux-research.md) when the user or context is unknown — interviews, personas, journey maps, empathy maps, usability testing (run discovery before visual design)
• Load [references/design-foundations.md](references/design-foundations.md) §Information Architecture when organizing content — the four IA elements, tree vs network, card sorting, navigation depth, labeling systems

2. Pick a style

If docs/design/references.md exists (produced by design-research), load it first — ground the style choice in what real market references actually ship, not internal catalogs alone. Choose a concrete visual style that fits the product type and tone. Consistency across all pages is non-negotiable — don't mix flat and skeuomorphic randomly. Use SVG icons (Lucide, Heroicons), never emoji as structural icons. Effects (shadows, blur, radius) must align with the chosen style.

• Load [references/styles.md](references/styles.md) for the style catalog (glassmorphism, claymorphism, minimalism, brutalism, neumorphism, bento grid, dark mode, skeuomorphism, flat design, and more) with characteristics, when-to-use, and effects
• Load [references/apple-hig.md](references/apple-hig.md) when designing for Apple platforms (iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, visionOS, watchOS) — HIG specs, routing table, critical design rules
• Load [references/material-design.md](references/material-design.md) when designing for Android or Google-ecosystem products — Material 3 color/type/elevation/state-layer roles, M3 vs M2, when Material vs HIG vs custom

3. Apply the color formula

Use a dominant-surface-accent distribution, not timid even palettes. Define semantic tokens (never raw hex in components), meet WCAG contrast, and design light/dark variants together.

• Load [references/palettes.md](references/palettes.md) for the 60/30/10 formula, semantic token table, contrast ratios, dark-mode rules, and palette selection by product type
• Load [references/design-foundations.md](references/design-foundations.md) §Color for the theory beneath the formula — HSB model, five color schemes, 70:25:5 proportion, color psychology, cultural variance, the gray-test

4. Typography pairing

Pair a distinctive display font with a refined body font. Avoid generic defaults. Vary between generations — never converge on the same choice every time.

• Load [references/font-pairings.md](references/font-pairings.md) for the type scale, weight hierarchy, line-height/line-length targets, tabular figures, and pairing catalog by personality
• Load [references/design-foundations.md](references/design-foundations.md) §Typography for the theory — font anatomy (x-height, counters, contrast), optical sizing, vertical rhythm, modular scale ratios, rendering

5. Specify interaction states and mark specs

Every interactive element needs all states: default, hover, focus, pressed, disabled, loading. Use consistent scales for spacing, radius, elevation, and icons — not arbitrary values. Every view must also handle the four user-side states — design them explicitly, don't leave them to chance:

| State | Design job | |---|---| | Loading | Show structure (skeleton screen), not a bare spinner | | Error | Explain what happened in plain language + a concrete next step | | Empty | Explain why it's empty + guide the user to a first action | | Partial | Make loaded parts interactive; don't block the whole view on one fetch |

Load for depth (the essentials above are enough to specify the step; load these when the corresponding concern is in play):

• [references/ux-guidelines.md](references/ux-guidelines.md) — touch-target sizes, focus rings, reduced-motion, spacing scale, pre-delivery checklist
• [references/motion-system.md](references/motion-system.md) — motion token scale (duration, easing, distance), choreography patterns (stagger, shared-element, cross-fade), scroll-animation skeletons
• [references/design-tokens.md](references/design-tokens.md) — token tiers (global → semantic → component), naming convention, scales (spacing, radius, elevation, z-index)
• [references/component-anatomy.md](references/component-anatomy.md) — part-based design (compound components, slots), variant axes mapped to tokens (load when building component systems)
• [references/design-foundations.md](references/design-foundations.md) §Usability Heuristics — Nielsen's 10, Heuristic Evaluation, Norman, Rams (load when evaluating)
• [references/state-design.md](references/state-design.md) — skeleton-screen patterns, empty-state copy, error-recovery flows beyond the table above
• [references/state-management.md](references/state-management.md) — load only when the UI has complex data-flow (client/server state, cache strategy, optimistic updates); that's an architecture concern, not a state-spec one

6. Implement and verify

Implement working code (HTML/CSS/JS, React, Vue, etc.) that is production-grade, functional, visually striking, and meticulously refined.

Output:

• Designing UI from scratch → docs/design/DESIGN.md — the UIUX design report: design system, information architecture, interaction patterns, component plan.
• Auditing an existing frontend → docs/design/frontend-audit.md — findings and optimization suggestions for current layout/components/typography/styles.
• User research before design → docs/research/ux-research.md — personas, journey maps, empathy maps, usability-test findings (produced when the user/context is unknown; load references/ux-research.md).

Then run the verification below.

Verify

• [ ] Aesthetic direction is bold and intentional — not generic AI slop (no purple-on-white, no rounded-2xl everything, no stock card grids)
• [ ] Color formula applied: dominant/surface/accent distribution, semantic tokens, 4.5:1 contrast
• [ ] Typography: distinctive display + refined body, consistent type scale, no skipped heading levels
• [ ] Interaction states: every interactive element has default/hover/focus/pressed/disabled
• [ ] Touch targets ≥44pt; spacing on 4/8dp scale; consistent radius and elevation scales
• [ ] Responsive: works at 320px, 768px, 1024px, 1440px; no horizontal scroll on mobile
• [ ] Dark mode designed alongside light mode, not bolted on
• [ ] Accessibility: keyboard navigation, ARIA labels, focus management, reduced-motion support
• [ ] No emoji as icons; SVG icons from one consistent family

Red flags: purple/indigo everything; excessive gradients; rounded-2xl on everything; lorem ipsum copy; oversized uniform padding; stock card grids; shadow-heavy layering; hardcoded hex in components; text under 12px; gray-on-gray; color as sole state indicator.

• Load [references/anti-tells.md](references/anti-tells.md) for the full forbidden-patterns list and the pre-flight check matrix — run every box before delivering

References

• [${CLAUDEPLUGINROOT}/references/engineering-principles.md](${CLAUDEPLUGINROOT}/references/engineering-principles.md) — shared discipline (surface assumptions, push back, verify don't assume)
• [${CLAUDEPLUGINROOT}/references/design-principles.md](${CLAUDEPLUGINROOT}/references/design-principles.md) — design discipline (CRAP, hierarchy before decoration, minimize cognitive load, design every state, accessibility non-optional, consistency from systems)
• [references/styles.md](references/styles.md) — 21 UI styles with effect specs (shadows, blur, radius)
• [references/palettes.md](references/palettes.md) — 12 palette directions by product type
• [references/font-pairings.md](references/font-pairings.md) — 31 font pairings across 10 personality categories
• [references/ux-guidelines.md](references/ux-guidelines.md) — 232 UX guidelines across 10 priority categories + pre-delivery checklist
• [references/apple-hig.md](references/apple-hig.md) — Apple HIG routing table + quick-reference specs
• [references/brief-inference.md](references/brief-inference.md) — design-read protocol + 3 dials (variance, motion, density) + design-system selection map
• [references/anti-tells.md](references/anti-tells.md) — forbidden AI patterns + pre-flight check matrix
• [references/motion-system.md](references/motion-system.md) — motion token scale, easing catalog, choreography patterns, scroll-animation skeletons
• [references/design-tokens.md](references/design-tokens.md) — token tiers, naming convention, scales (spacing, radius, elevation, z-index)
• [references/component-anatomy.md](references/component-anatomy.md) — compound components, slot architecture, variant axes, composition patterns
• [references/state-management.md](references/state-management.md) — client vs server state, store/cache selection, state machines, optimistic updates, derived state, normalization
• [references/design-foundations.md](references/design-foundations.md) — design theory in one place: Perception & Gestalt, Cognitive Laws (Hick's, Fitts's, Miller, Tesler, Von Restorff), Color (HSB, schemes, 70:25:5), Typography (anatomy, rhythm, scale), Hierarchy & Layout (F/Z patterns, squint/5-second tests, CRAP), Usability Heuristics (Nielsen 10, Norman, Rams), Information Architecture (4 elements, card sorting, labeling)
• [references/state-design.md](references/state-design.md) — four states (loading/error/empty/partial), skeleton screens, empty-state design, error recovery
• [references/material-design.md](references/material-design.md) — Material 3 color/type/elevation/state-layer roles, M3 vs M2, when Material vs HIG vs custom
• [references/ux-research.md](references/ux-research.md) — user interviews, personas, journey maps, empathy maps, usability testing (5-user rule, think-aloud)
• [references/visual-direction.md](references/visual-direction.md) — shared web visual-direction engine for imagegen (web mode) and image-to-code (variation axes, hero scale, composition anchors, anti-slop)
• [references/design-system-audit.md](references/design-system-audit.md) — token coverage vs hardcoded values audit, component variant/state/a11y documentation, systematic extension patterns

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: int2t05
• Source: int2t05/engineering-skills
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.