frontend-design-review

The saved excerpt is a snapshot from when this skill was listed. The external source remains the complete and most current version.

---
name: frontend-design-review
description: >
  Review and create distinctive, production-grade frontend interfaces with high design quality and design system compliance.
  Evaluates using three pillars: frictionless insight-to-action, quality craft, and trustworthy building.
  USE FOR: PR reviews, design reviews, accessibility audits, design system compliance checks, creative frontend design,
  UI code review, component reviews, responsive design checks, theme testing, and creating memorable UI.
  DO NOT USE FOR: Backend API reviews, database schema reviews, infrastructure or DevOps work, pure business logic
  without UI, or non-frontend code.
acknowledgments: |
  Design review principles and quality pillar framework created by @Quirinevwm (https://github.com/Quirinevwm).
  Creative frontend guidance inspired by Anthropic's frontend-design skill
  (https://github.com/anthropics/skills/tree/main/skills/frontend-design). Licensed under respective terms.
---

# Frontend Design Review

Review UI implementations against design quality standards and your design system **OR** create distinctive, production-grade frontend interfaces from scratch.

## Two Modes

### Mode 1: Design Review
Evaluate existing UI for design system compliance, three quality pillars (Frictionless, Quality Craft, Trustworthy), accessibility, and code quality.

### Mode 2: Creative Frontend Design
Create distinctive interfaces that avoid generic "AI slop" aesthetics, have clear conceptual direction, and execute with precision.

---

## Creative Frontend Design

Before coding, commit to an aesthetic direction:
- **Purpose**: What problem does this solve? Who uses it?
- **Tone**: minimal, maximalist, retro-futuristic, organic, luxury, playful, editorial, brutalist, art deco, soft/pastel, industrial, etc.
- **Constraints**: Framework, performance, accessibility requirements.
- **Differentiation**: What makes this distinctive and context-appropriate?

### Aesthetics Guidelines

- **Typography**: Distinctive fonts that elevate aesthetics. Pair a display font with a refined body font. Avoid Inter, Roboto, Arial, Space Grotesk.
- **Color & Theme**: Cohesive palette with CSS variables. Dominant colors + sharp accents > timid, evenly-distributed palettes.
- **Motion**: CSS-only preferred. One well-orchestrated page load with staggered reveals > scattered micro-interactions.
- **Spatial Composition**: Asymmetry, overlap, diagonal flow, grid-breaking elements, generous negative space OR controlled density.
- **Backgrounds**: Gradient meshes, noise textures, geometric patterns, layered transparencies, dramatic shadows, grain overlays.

**AVOID**: Overused fonts, cliched color schemes, predictable layouts, cookie-cutter design without context-specific character.

Match implementation complexity to vision. Maximalist = elaborate code. Minimalist = restraint and precision.

---

## Design Review

### Design System Workflow

**Before implementing:**
1. Review component in your Storybook / component library for API and usage
2. Use Figma Dev Mode to get exact specs (spacing, tokens, properties)
3. Implement using design system components + design tokens

**During review:**
1. Compare implementation to Figma design
2. Verify design tokens are used (not hardcoded values)
3. Check all variants/states are implemented correctly
4. Flag deviations (needs design approval)

**If component doesn't exist:**
1. Check if existing component can be adapted
2. Reach out to design for new component creation
3. Document exception and rationale in code

### Review Process

1. Identify user task
2. Check design system for matching patterns
3. Evaluate aesthetic direction
4. Identify scope (component, feature, or flow)
5. Evaluate each pillar
6. Score and prioritize issues (blocking/major/minor)
7. Provide recommendations with design system examples

### Core Principles

- **Task completion**: Minimum clicks. Every screen answers "What can I do?" and "What happens next?"
- **Action hierarchy**: