S-Tier SaaS Dashboard Design Checklist (Inspired by Stripe, Airbnb, Linear)

I. Core Design Philosophy & Strategy

• Users First: Prioritize user needs, workflows, and ease of use in every design decision.
• Meticulous Craft: Aim for precision, polish, and high quality in every UI element and interaction.
• Speed & Performance: Design for fast load times and snappy, responsive interactions.
• Simplicity & Clarity: Strive for a clean, uncluttered interface. Ensure labels, instructions, and information are unambiguous.
• Focus & Efficiency: Help users achieve their goals quickly and with minimal friction. Minimize unnecessary steps or distractions.
• Consistency: Maintain a uniform design language (colors, typography, components, patterns) across the entire dashboard.
• Accessibility (WCAG AA+): Design for inclusivity. Ensure sufficient color contrast, keyboard navigability, and screen reader compatibility.
• Opinionated Design (Thoughtful Defaults): Establish clear, efficient default workflows and settings, reducing decision fatigue for users.

II. Design System Foundation (Tokens & Core Components)

• Define a Color Palette:
  • Primary Brand Color: User-specified, used strategically.
  • Neutrals: A scale of grays (5-7 steps) for text, backgrounds, borders.
  • Semantic Colors: Define specific colors for Success (green), Error/Destructive (red), Warning (yellow/amber), Informational (blue).
  • Dark Mode Palette: Create a corresponding accessible dark mode palette.
  • Accessibility Check: Ensure all color combinations meet WCAG AA contrast ratios.
• Establish a Typographic Scale:
  • Primary Font Family: Choose a clean, legible sans-serif font (e.g., Inter, Manrope, system-ui).
  • Modular Scale: Define distinct sizes for H1, H2, H3, H4, Body Large, Body Medium (Default), Body Small/Caption. (e.g., H1: 32px, Body: 14px/16px).
  • Font Weights: Utilize a limited set of weights (e.g., Regular, Medium, SemiBold, Bold).
  • Line Height: Ensure generous line height for readability (e.g., 1.5-1.7 for body text).
• Define Spacing Units:
  • Base Unit: Establish a base unit (e.g., 8px).
  • Spacing Scale: Use multiples of the base unit for all padding, margins, and layout spacing (e.g., 4px, 8px, 12px, 16px, 24px, 32px).
• Define Border Radii:
  • Consistent Values: Use a small set of consistent border radii (e.g., Small: 4-6px for inputs/buttons; Medium: 8-12px for cards/modals).
• Develop Core UI Components (with consistent states: default, hover, active, focus, disabled):
  • Buttons (primary, secondary, tertiary/ghost, destructive, link-style; with icon options)
  • Input Fields (text, textarea, select, date picker; with clear labels, placeholders, helper text, error messages)
  • Checkboxes & Radio Buttons
  • Toggles/Switches
  • Cards (for content blocks, multimedia items, dashboard widgets)
  • Tables (for data display; with clear headers, rows, cells; support for sorting, filtering)
  • Modals/Dialogs (for confirmations, forms, detailed views)
  • Navigation Elements (Sidebar, Tabs)
  • Badges/Tags (for status indicators, categorization)
  • Tooltips (for contextual help)
  • Progress Indicators (Spinners, Progress Bars)
  • Icons (use a single, modern, clean icon set; SVG preferred)
  • Avatars

III. Layout, Visual Hierarchy & Structure

• Responsive Grid System: Design based on a responsive grid (e.g., 12-column) for consistent layout across devices.
• Strategic White Space: Use ample negative space to improve clarity, reduce cognitive load, and create visual balance.
• Clear Visual Hierarchy: Guide the user's eye using typography (size, weight, color), spacing, and element positioning.
• Consistent Alignment: Maintain consistent alignment of elements.
• Main Dashboard Layout:
  • Persistent Left Sidebar: For primary navigation between modules.
  • Content Area: Main space for module-specific interfaces.
  • (Optional) Top Bar: For global search, user profile, notifications.
• Mobile-First Considerations: Ensure the design adapts gracefully to smaller screens.

IV. Interaction Design & Animations

• Purposeful Micro-interactions: Use subtle animations and visual feedback for user actions (hovers, clicks, form submissions, status changes).
  • Feedback should be immediate and clear.
  • Animations should be quick (150-300ms) and use appropriate easing (e.g., ease-in-out).
• Loading States: Implement clear loading indicators (skeleton screens for page loads, spinners for in-component actions).
• Transitions: Use smooth transitions for state changes, modal appearances, and section expansions.
• Avoid Distraction: Animations should enhance usability, not overwhelm or slow down the user.
• Keyboard Navigation: Ensure all interactive elements are keyboard accessible and focus states are clear.

V. Specific Module Design Tactics

A. Multimedia Moderation Module

• Clear Media Display: Prominent image/video previews (grid or list view).
• Obvious Moderation Actions: Clearly labeled buttons (Approve, Reject, Flag, etc.) with distinct styling (e.g., primary/secondary, color-coding). Use icons for quick recognition.
• Visible Status Indicators: Use color-coded Badges for content status (Pending, Approved, Rejected).
• Contextual Information: Display relevant metadata (uploader, timestamp, flags) alongside media.
• Workflow Efficiency:
  • Bulk Actions: Allow selection and moderation of multiple items.
  • Keyboard Shortcuts: For common moderation actions.
• Minimize Fatigue: Clean, uncluttered interface; consider dark mode option.

B. Data Tables Module (Contacts, Admin Settings)

• Readability & Scannability:
  • Smart Alignment: Left-align text, right-align numbers.
  • Clear Headers: Bold column headers.
  • Zebra Striping (Optional): For dense tables.
  • Legible Typography: Simple, clean sans-serif fonts.
  • Adequate Row Height & Spacing.
• Interactive Controls:
  • Column Sorting: Clickable headers with sort indicators.
  • Intuitive Filtering: Accessible filter controls (dropdowns, text inputs) above the table.
  • Global Table Search.
• Large Datasets:
  • Pagination (preferred for admin tables) or virtual/infinite scroll.
  • Sticky Headers / Frozen Columns: If applicable.
• Row Interactions:
  • Expandable Rows: For detailed information.
  • Inline Editing: For quick modifications.
  • Bulk Actions: Checkboxes and contextual toolbar.
  • Action Icons/Buttons per Row: (Edit, Delete, View Details) clearly distinguishable.

C. Configuration Panels Module (Microsite, Admin Settings)

• Clarity & Simplicity: Clear, unambiguous labels for all settings. Concise helper text or tooltips for descriptions. Avoid jargon.
• Logical Grouping: Group related settings into sections or tabs.
• Progressive Disclosure: Hide advanced or less-used settings by default (e.g., behind "Advanced Settings" toggle, accordions).
• Appropriate Input Types: Use correct form controls (text fields, checkboxes, toggles, selects, sliders) for each setting.
• Visual Feedback: Immediate confirmation of changes saved (e.g., toast notifications, inline messages). Clear error messages for invalid inputs.
• Sensible Defaults: Provide default values for all settings.
• Reset Option: Easy way to "Reset to Defaults" for sections or entire configuration.
• Microsite Preview (If Applicable): Show a live or near-live preview of microsite changes.

VI. CSS & Styling Architecture

• Choose a Scalable CSS Methodology:
  • Utility-First (Recommended for LLM): e.g., Tailwind CSS. Define design tokens in config, apply via utility classes.
  • BEM with Sass: If not utility-first, use structured BEM naming with Sass variables for tokens.
  • CSS-in-JS (Scoped Styles): e.g., Stripe's approach for Elements.
• Integrate Design Tokens: Ensure colors, fonts, spacing, radii tokens are directly usable in the chosen CSS architecture.
• Maintainability & Readability: Code should be well-organized and easy to understand.
• Performance: Optimize CSS delivery; avoid unnecessary bloat.

VII. General Best Practices

• Iterative Design & Testing: Continuously test with users and iterate on designs.
• Clear Information Architecture: Organize content and navigation logically.
• Responsive Design: Ensure the dashboard is fully functional and looks great on all device sizes (desktop, tablet, mobile).
• Documentation: Maintain clear documentation for the design system and components.