design-review

/design-review - Frontend & Design Audit

Audit frontend code for design consistency, accessibility compliance, responsive behavior, and UX patterns - producing actionable findings with severity levels and file:line references.

Target: $ARGUMENTS

When to Use

• Before deploying UI changes to production
• After design system updates or theme changes
• When accessibility compliance is required (WCAG AA)
• After new contributor frontend PRs
• When UI inconsistencies are reported by users
• When migrating or updating component libraries
• NOT for: backend-only changes (use /codereview)
• NOT for: performance-only audits (use @perf directly)
• NOT for: creating new designs (use @designer)

Workflow

Step 1: Scope & Stack Detection

1. Identify target - Component, page, module, or full frontend
2. Detect CSS framework:

# Detect styling approach
grep -rl "tailwind\|@apply" . --include="*.css" --include="*.config.*" 2>/dev/null | head -5
grep -rl "styled-components\|@emotion\|css-in-js" . --include="*.ts" --include="*.tsx" 2>/dev/null | head -5
grep -rl "\.module\.css\|\.module\.scss" $TARGET 2>/dev/null | head -5

3. Detect component library:

# Check for UI libraries
grep -rn "shadcn\|radix\|headlessui\|chakra\|mantine\|vuetify\|primevue" package.json 2>/dev/null

4. Read design tokens if they exist (theme files, CSS variables, Tailwind config)

Step 2: Design Consistency Audit

Check for consistent use of design system:

Check	What to Look For
Color tokens	Hardcoded hex/rgb instead of CSS variables or theme tokens
Spacing scale	Arbitrary pixel values instead of spacing scale (4px, 8px, 16px...)
Typography	Inline font-size/weight instead of text style tokens
Border radius	Inconsistent rounding across components
Shadow	Hardcoded box-shadow instead of elevation tokens
Z-index	Arbitrary z-index values without a defined scale
Breakpoints	Custom media queries instead of defined breakpoints

# Find hardcoded colors (potential token violations)
grep -rn "#[0-9a-fA-F]\{3,8\}\|rgb(\|rgba(\|hsl(" $TARGET --include="*.tsx" --include="*.vue" --include="*.svelte" --include="*.css" 2>/dev/null | grep -v "node_modules\|\.config\." | head -30

# Find hardcoded pixel values (potential spacing violations)
grep -rn "margin:\|padding:\|gap:" $TARGET --include="*.tsx" --include="*.vue" --include="*.css" 2>/dev/null | grep "[0-9]px" | head -20

# Find hardcoded z-index
grep -rn "z-index:" $TARGET --include="*.tsx" --include="*.vue" --include="*.css" 2>/dev/null | head -10

Step 3: Accessibility Audit (WCAG AA)

Check for accessibility compliance:

Check	Criteria	How to Verify
Alt text	All <img> have meaningful alt	Grep for <img without alt
Labels	All form inputs have associated labels	Grep for <input without aria-label or <label>
Headings	Single H1, logical H2-H6 hierarchy	Scan heading structure
Contrast	Text meets 4.5:1 ratio (AA)	Check color token combinations
Focus	Interactive elements have visible focus styles	Check :focus-visible usage
Keyboard	All interactions accessible via keyboard	Check for onClick without onKeyDown
ARIA	Correct ARIA roles, states, properties	Check for misused ARIA attributes
Motion	Respect prefers-reduced-motion	Check animations for motion preference
Touch targets	Minimum 44x44px for touch targets	Check button/link sizing

# Missing alt text
grep -rn "<img" $TARGET --include="*.tsx" --include="*.vue" --include="*.svelte" 2>/dev/null | grep -v "alt=" | head -10

# Missing form labels
grep -rn "<input\|<select\|<textarea" $TARGET --include="*.tsx" --include="*.vue" 2>/dev/null | grep -v "aria-label\|aria-labelledby\|id=" | head -10

# onClick without keyboard handler
grep -rn "onClick=" $TARGET --include="*.tsx" 2>/dev/null | grep -v "button\|Button\|<a " | head -10

# Check for prefers-reduced-motion
grep -rn "prefers-reduced-motion" $TARGET --include="*.css" --include="*.tsx" --include="*.vue" 2>/dev/null | wc -l

Step 4: Responsive Review

Check responsive behavior:

Check	What to Look For
Breakpoint usage	Consistent use of defined breakpoints, not arbitrary values
Mobile-first	Styles default to mobile, scale up with min-width queries
Flexible layouts	Flex/Grid instead of fixed widths
Viewport meta	Proper <meta name="viewport"> configuration
Text overflow	Long text handled with truncation/wrap
Image sizing	Responsive images with srcset, sizes, or framework equivalents
Container queries	Used where component-level responsiveness is needed

# Find fixed widths (potential responsive issues)
grep -rn "width: [0-9]\+px" $TARGET --include="*.css" --include="*.tsx" --include="*.vue" 2>/dev/null | grep -v "max-width\|min-width" | head -15

# Check for responsive image usage
grep -rn "<img" $TARGET --include="*.tsx" --include="*.vue" 2>/dev/null | grep -v "srcset\|sizes\|next/image\|nuxt-img" | head -10

Step 5: UX Pattern Review

Check for complete UX states:

Pattern	Required States
Data loading	Loading skeleton/spinner, not blank screen
Empty state	Helpful message + action when no data
Error state	User-friendly error with retry action
Form validation	Inline validation, not just submit-time
Success feedback	Confirmation after destructive/important actions
Progressive disclosure	Complex UI revealed progressively
Navigation	Breadcrumbs, back buttons, clear hierarchy

For each component/page in scope, verify that all applicable states are handled.

Step 6: Report & Findings

1. Classify every finding with severity (CRITICAL/HIGH/MEDIUM/LOW)
2. Include file:line references for every finding
3. Provide concrete fix for every finding
4. Calculate scores per category (0-100)

Severity Levels

Level	Description	Examples
CRITICAL	Accessibility barrier or legal risk	Missing alt text on critical images, no keyboard navigation, color contrast failure
HIGH	Major UX issue or design system violation	Inconsistent design tokens, missing error states, broken responsive layout
MEDIUM	Minor UX issue or inconsistency	Hardcoded colors that match tokens, missing loading states on fast operations
LOW	Style improvement or polish	Minor spacing inconsistencies, optional animation improvements

Verification Protocol

Before claiming the review is complete:

1. All 4 audit dimensions were checked (consistency, accessibility, responsive, UX)
2. Every finding has a severity level and file:line reference
3. Every CRITICAL/HIGH finding has a concrete fix suggestion
4. Automated checks were run (grep for hardcoded values, missing alt text, etc.)
5. Design token/theme files were read before flagging consistency issues
6. At least one component was traced through all UX states (loading, empty, error, success)

Anti-Rationalization

Excuse	Reality
"Design is subjective"	Accessibility is not. Consistency is not. Review objective criteria, not taste.
"It looks fine on my screen"	Did you test mobile, tablet, desktop? Dark mode? Screen reader?
"We'll fix accessibility later"	WCAG compliance is cheaper to build than retrofit. Lawsuits don't wait.
"The design system handles all this"	Design systems provide tools; developers still misuse them. Verify actual usage.
"Users don't notice small inconsistencies"	Inconsistency erodes trust subconsciously. Death by a thousand cuts.
"It's an internal tool, accessibility doesn't matter"	Internal tools have users with disabilities too. And internal becomes external.
"The component library is accessible by default"	Libraries provide accessible primitives. Composition can break accessibility.

Rules

1. Read-only - Never modify files during a review
2. Evidence required - Every finding needs a file:line reference
3. Token-first - Check if design tokens exist before flagging hardcoded values
4. Accessibility is non-negotiable - WCAG AA violations are always HIGH or CRITICAL
5. Framework-aware - Check for framework-specific patterns (next/image, NuxtImg, etc.)
6. State completeness - Every interactive component must handle loading, error, and empty states
7. No false positives - Verify that a "hardcoded value" isn't actually a CSS variable or token

Output

──── /design-review ────
Target: $ARGUMENTS
Stack: [framework] + [CSS approach] + [component library]

Consistency:   [score]/100 - [N findings]
Accessibility: [score]/100 - [N findings]
Responsive:    [score]/100 - [N findings]
UX Patterns:   [score]/100 - [N findings]

Severity:
  CRITICAL: N
  HIGH: N
  MEDIUM: N
  LOW: N

Top Findings:
1. [CRITICAL] [description] - [file:line]
2. [HIGH] [description] - [file:line]
3. [HIGH] [description] - [file:line]

Overall Score: [N]/100
Verdict: [PASS | PASS WITH NOTES | NEEDS WORK | FAIL]