Web UI Design Guide

Overview

Ensure every web UI component built looks modern and professional by applying systematic design principles. This skill provides comprehensive guidelines for color, spacing, typography, and component-specific patterns to achieve clean, minimal, and consistent user interfaces.

When to Use This Skill

Activate this skill when:

• Building any web UI component (buttons, forms, cards, navigation, modals, etc.)
• Creating layouts or page designs
• Implementing design systems or component libraries
• Working with UI frameworks (React, Vue, Next.js, shadcn/ui, etc.)
• Receiving requests like:
  • "Create a login form"
  • "Design a dashboard card"
  • "Build a navigation header"
  • "Make this UI look modern"
  • "Style this component"

Do NOT activate for:

• Backend API development
• Database queries
• Server configuration
• Non-visual code tasks

Core Design Philosophy

Follow these fundamental principles for all UI work:

1. Clean and Minimal - Prioritize whitespace, reduce visual clutter
2. Neutral Color Palette - Gray/off-white base (80-90%) + ONE accent color (5-10%)
3. 8px Grid System - All spacing uses multiples of 8: 8, 16, 24, 32, 48, 64px
4. Typography Hierarchy - Minimum 16px body text, maximum 2 font families
5. Subtle Effects - Understated shadows, selective rounded corners
6. Mobile-First - Design for small screens first, expand to larger

How to Use This Skill

Step 1: Load Relevant Reference

Before implementing any UI component, load the appropriate reference file:

Read references/design-principles.md - Core philosophy and principles
Read references/color-palette.md - Color system and accent usage
Read references/spacing-system.md - 8px grid spacing scale
Read references/typography.md - Font sizes, weights, line heights
Read references/component-patterns.md - Component-specific best practices
Read references/anti-patterns.md - Common mistakes to avoid

Recommendation: Start with design-principles.md for overall philosophy, then load component-specific files as needed.

Step 2: Apply Component-Specific Patterns

For each component type, reference the corresponding section in component-patterns.md:

• Button: component-patterns.md → Button section
• Card: component-patterns.md → Card section
• Form: component-patterns.md → Form section
• Navigation: component-patterns.md → Navigation section
• Modal: component-patterns.md → Modal section
• Table: component-patterns.md → Table section
• Badge/Tag: component-patterns.md → Badge section
• Dropdown: component-patterns.md → Dropdown section

Step 3: Validate Against Anti-Patterns

Before finalizing implementation, check anti-patterns.md to ensure the design avoids:

• ❌ Rainbow gradients or generic purple/blue gradients
• ❌ Text smaller than 16px for body content
• ❌ Inconsistent spacing (non-8px multiples)
• ❌ More than 2 font families
• ❌ Border + shadow on the same element
• ❌ Unclear interactive states (hover, focus, active)

Step 4: Ensure System Consistency

Apply the 8px grid system for all spacing:

• Use only: 4px (rare), 8px, 12px, 16px, 24px, 32px, 48px, 64px
• Reference spacing-system.md for component-specific spacing guidelines

Use neutral color palette as foundation:

• Base: #FFFFFF, #FAFAFA, #F5F5F5
• Grays: #E0E0E0, #CCCCCC, #999999, #666666, #333333, #1A1A1A
• ONE accent color for actions and emphasis
• Reference color-palette.md for detailed color usage

Maintain typography hierarchy:

• Body text: minimum 16px, line-height 1.6
• Maximum 2 font families
• Clear heading scales (32px H1, 24px H2, 20px H3)
• Reference typography.md for complete type scale

Resources

references/

Documentation loaded into context as needed to inform design decisions:

• design-principles.md - Core philosophy: clean minimal design, neutral palette, 8px grid, typography hierarchy, subtle effects, mobile-first
• color-palette.md - Neutral base colors, single accent color usage, semantic colors, examples and anti-patterns
• spacing-system.md - 8px grid scale, component spacing guidelines, responsive spacing
• typography.md - Font selection, type scale, weights, line lengths, component typography
• component-patterns.md - Design patterns for buttons, cards, forms, navigation, modals, tables, badges, dropdowns
• anti-patterns.md - Common design mistakes to avoid with alternatives

Quick Decision Tree

UI Component Request
│
├─ What component? → Load component-patterns.md section
│
├─ What spacing? → Use 8px grid (spacing-system.md)
│
├─ What colors? → Neutral base + accent (color-palette.md)
│
├─ What typography? → 16px+ body, clear hierarchy (typography.md)
│
└─ Validation → Check anti-patterns.md

Examples

Good Request Flow:

User: "Create a login form"
→ Read references/component-patterns.md (Form section)
→ Read references/spacing-system.md (Form spacing)
→ Apply: 16px input text, 8px label gap, 24px button spacing
→ Validate against anti-patterns.md
→ Implement with neutral colors + accent for primary button

Component Implementation Checklist:

• ✅ Spacing uses 8px multiples
• ✅ Text minimum 16px for body
• ✅ Neutral colors (80-90%) + accent color (5-10%)
• ✅ Clear hover/focus/active states
• ✅ No rainbow gradients or generic purple/blue
• ✅ Maximum 2 font families
• ✅ Mobile-first responsive design