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Prompt to get a checklist of design improvements for an AI Coding Agent to implement
You are a professional, award-winning designer. You will be presented with some background information about a project, followed by <INSTRUCTIONS>.
<DESIGN RUBRIC>
| Category | Description | A | B | C | D | F |
|----------|------------|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Color Palette** | Weight: 1x | Colors are masterfully integrated, perfectly reflecting the brand and balancing contrast for optimal usability. | Colors are thoughtfully selected, support brand identity, and maintain a mostly consistent visual hierarchy. | A serviceable color scheme is present, though minor inconsistencies or contrast issues reduce overall effectiveness. | Colors are partially aligned with the brand but fail to follow best practices in contrast or hierarchy. | Colors are chosen at random, creating visual confusion and lacking any cohesive theme or brand alignment. |
| **Layout & Grid** | Weight: 1x | Grid usage is expertly executed, ensuring balanced spacing, alignment consistency, and a crisp, professional structure. | A purposeful grid strategy creates a cohesive layout; minor alignment or spacing issues may still be noticed. | Layout generally follows a grid, though some elements deviate; overall structure is acceptable but not optimal. | Some grid principles are followed, but spacing is inconsistent and visual alignment suffers in key sections. | No clear structure or grid system in place, resulting in a disorganized and hard-to-navigate layout. |
| **Typography** | Weight: 1x | Typography is outstanding, with well-chosen fonts, impeccable kerning, and a clean hierarchy that enhances user engagement. | Typography choices reflect a solid visual hierarchy and balanced kerning; minor refinements may further improve readability. | Typography is functional with moderately consistent styles, though headlines, body text, and spacing could be refined. | Font selection is somewhat appropriate but lacks clear organization; kerning and leading inconsistencies persist. | Font choices are erratic or unreadable, with rampant inconsistencies in size, weight, or familial styles. |
| **Hierarchy & Navigation** | Weight: 1x | Flawless content hierarchy with intuitive navigation that effortlessly guides users to core features and information. | Content levels are well-defined, and primary navigation is accessible; minor tweaks could enhance usability further. | A straightforward hierarchy is established, though key actions or navigation items could be more prominently displayed. | Some attempt at prioritizing content is visible, yet users may struggle to locate important features easily. | Information is scattered without clear importance levels; navigation elements are unrecognizable or absent. |
| **Accessibility** | Weight: 1x | Fully meets or exceeds accessibility best practices, ensuring all users can easily interact with and understand the dashboard. | The design largely complies with accessibility standards; minor improvements could include more robust testing or refinements. | Basic accessibility measures are present, though certain features like keyboard navigation or ARIA tags may be incomplete. | Some attempts to address accessibility are made, yet many crucial guidelines (e.g., color contrast) remain unmet. | Design disregards accessibility guidelines altogether, using low contrast, illegible fonts, and no accessible patterns. |
| **Spacing & Alignment** | Weight: 1x | A perfectly balanced layout with deliberate spacing; every element is precisely aligned for maximum readability. | Thoughtful use of white space and alignment creates a clean layout with only minor areas needing adjustment. | Spacing and alignment are mostly consistent, though certain sections need refinement to enhance clarity. | Some uniformity in spacing is emerging, but inconsistent alignment detracts from legibility and overall visual flow. | Visual clutter dominates due to no consistent margins, padding, or alignment, making the interface look unfinished. |
</DESIGN_RUBRIC>
<CODEBASE>
(use RepoPrompt or other codebase-to-markdown tool and paste relevant code here)
</CODEBASE>
<INSTRUCTIONS>
Act as a world-class designer. Your job is to take this prototype and turn it into a impeccably designed web application. This application should be in the top 1% of well designed applications and should be a winner of an Apple design award. Use the <RUBRIC> as a guide and do not complete this task until you score an A in every category. Output your design tasks as a series of very specific actions a front-end designer should take to implement this design. Each task should be one story point, and include the specific filenames to update. Your output should be a detailed, numbered markdown checklist with each task unchecked.
</INSTRUCTIONS>

It is critical that you do not skip any steps. After you complete each task, update the file to check off any task. Run builds and commits after each task. Continue with each task until you have checked off each one. After each story, do not take a screenshot. If you need more detail about a task, you can gather relevant files and pass the FULL file to the research agent.

Design Enhancement Tasks

Typography & Brand

  • 1. Update font hierarchy in tailwind.config.ts to use Geist for headings and Inter for body text, with precise font weights (300, 400, 500, 700)
  • 2. Define a consistent type scale in globals.css with proper line heights and letter spacing for all text elements
  • 3. Create text styles utility classes in globals.css for common text patterns (headings, body, captions)

Color System

  • 4. Refine color palette in tailwind.config.ts to include:
    • Primary: Blue (#2962FF with 9 tint/shade variations)
    • Secondary: Neutral grays (#374151 with 9 variations)
    • Accent: Success/Error/Warning colors
  • 5. Implement dark mode color variations in ThemeProvider.tsx with smooth transitions
  • 6. Add color contrast utility functions in src/lib/utils.ts for accessibility checks

Layout & Grid

  • 7. Create a responsive 12-column grid system in src/components/Layout.tsx
  • 8. Implement consistent spacing scale in tailwind.config.ts (4px base unit)
  • 9. Add container width constraints in app/layout.tsx (max-width: 1280px)

Components Refinement

  • 10. Enhance Button.tsx with:
    • Refined hover/active states
    • Loading state animation
    • Focus ring styles
  • 11. Update KanbanCard.tsx with:
    • Subtle shadows
    • Hover state animations
    • Status indicator refinements
  • 12. Improve ChatWindow.tsx:
    • Message bubbles with better spacing
    • Typing indicators
    • Timestamp formatting

Navigation & Structure

  • 13. Redesign Navigation.tsx:
    • Sticky header with blur effect
    • Active state indicators
    • Responsive menu for mobile
  • 14. Add breadcrumb component in src/components/Breadcrumb.tsx
  • 15. Implement smooth page transitions in app/layout.tsx

Dashboard Enhancement

  • 16. Update dashboard/page.tsx:
    • Add card hover animations
    • Implement drag-and-drop interactions
    • Add column loading states
  • 17. Create dashboard header in dashboard/Header.tsx with:
    • Summary statistics
    • Filter controls
    • View options

Session View Improvements

  • 18. Enhance session/[id]/Session.tsx:
    • Split-view layout optimization
    • Resizable panels
    • Improved chat interface

Forms & Inputs

  • 19. Update TextInput.tsx:
    • Floating labels
    • Validation states
    • Helper text support
  • 20. Create consistent form layouts in src/components/Form.tsx

Animation & Interaction

  • 21. Add micro-interactions in globals.css:
    • Button hover effects
    • Card transitions
    • Loading states
  • 22. Implement page transition animations in app/layout.tsx

Accessibility & Polish

  • 23. Add focus styles in globals.css for keyboard navigation
  • 24. Implement loading skeletons in src/components/Skeleton.tsx
  • 25. Add error boundaries in src/components/ErrorBoundary.tsx

Final Integration

  • 26. Create theme toggle animation in ThemeProvider.tsx
  • 27. Add consistent toast notifications styling in ThemeAwareToast.tsx
  • 28. Implement global loading states in app/loading.tsx

Documentation

  • 29. Update Storybook stories with new design system documentation
  • 30. Create design system documentation in src/stories/DesignSystem.stories.mdx.tsx
@kleneway
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Note that you can copy/paste the "It is critical that you do not..." section into your cursor agent input to kick it off. Everything under that was straight from the Anthropic API output. This should help improve the core UX. For the UI, just go component by component and try the "It sucks, make it pop" trick. The full video is here: https://youtu.be/LjAdfwLMIRs?si=8Wo4fyCeWAYH4A9k

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