design-critique

Evaluate the design quality of a feature or component. Report-only — this skill documents issues but does not fix them.

Preparation

Read ~/.claude/skills/minoan-frontend-design/SKILL.md for aesthetic principles and anti-pattern guidance. If no .design-context.md exists in the project root, ask the user about audience and intended feel before proceeding — context determines whether a design choice is right or wrong.

Step 1: LLM Design Review

Read the relevant source files (HTML, CSS, JS/TS) and visually inspect if browser automation is available.

Evaluate as a design director:

AI Slop Detection: Does this look like every other AI-generated interface? Check against the rejection guidelines in the minoan skill. Look for: AI color palette, gradient text, glassmorphism, hero metric layouts, identical card grids, generic fonts (including second-tier defaults like Fraunces, Instrument Sans, Outfit), side-tab accent borders. The test: if someone said "AI made this," would they believe immediately?

Holistic Design Review: Visual hierarchy (eye flow, primary action clarity), composition (balance, whitespace, rhythm), typography (hierarchy, readability, font choices), color (purposeful use, cohesion, accessibility), states & edge cases (empty, loading, error, success).

Cognitive Load (consult ~/.claude/skills/minoan-frontend-design/references/cognitive-load.md): Run the 8-item checklist. Report failure count: 0-1 = low (good), 2-3 = moderate, 4+ = critical. Count visible options at each decision point — if >4, flag it.

Nielsen's Heuristics (consult ~/.claude/skills/minoan-frontend-design/references/heuristics-scoring.md): Score each of the 10 heuristics 0-4.

Step 2: Systematic Anti-Pattern Check

Walk through ~/.claude/skills/minoan-frontend-design/references/anti-patterns.md checklist item by item against the code. For full technical dimension scoring (a11y, performance, responsive, theming, anti-patterns), recommend /design-audit — this step focuses on design-quality anti-patterns only, not technical implementation.

Step 3: Combined Report

Synthesize both assessments. Note where they agree, where systematic checks caught issues the holistic review missed, and vice versa.

Design Health Score

Be honest with scores. A 4 means genuinely excellent. Most real interfaces score 20-32.

Anti-Patterns Verdict

Does this look AI-generated? Specific tells found. For full technical dimension scores (a11y, performance, responsive, theming), recommend /design-audit.

What's Working

2-3 things done well. Be specific about why they work.

Priority Issues

3-5 most impactful problems, ordered by importance. For each:

• [P0-P3] What: Name the problem
• Why it matters: How this hurts users
• Fix: Concrete suggestion
• Suggested command: /design-audit, /design-polish, /minoan-frontend-design, etc.

Severity definitions: P0 = blocks task completion, P1 = significant difficulty or WCAG violation, P2 = annoyance with workaround, P3 = nice-to-fix.

Persona Red Flags

Consult ~/.claude/skills/minoan-frontend-design/references/personas.md. Select 2-3 personas most relevant to this interface. For each, walk through the primary user action and list specific red flags:

Alex (Power User): No keyboard shortcuts. Form requires 8 clicks. High abandonment risk. Jordan (First-Timer): Icon-only nav. Technical jargon in errors. Will abandon at step 2.

Be specific — name exact elements and interactions that fail each persona.

Recommended Actions

List recommended commands in priority order. End with /design-polish as the final step if fixes were recommended.

For technical quality issues (contrast ratios, performance, responsive breakpoints), run /design-audit.

Re-run /design-critique after fixes to see your score improve.