/make-interfaces-feel-better
Design engineering principles for making interfaces feel polished. Use when building UI components, reviewing frontend code, implementing animations, hover states, shadows, borders, typography, icons, micro-interactions, enter/exit animations, or any visual detail work. Supports
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Design engineering principles for making interfaces feel polished. Use when building UI components, reviewing frontend code, implementing animations, hover states, shadows, borders, typography, icons, micro-interactions, enter/exit animations, or any visual detail work. Supports
SKILL.md
make-interfaces-feel-better.SKILL.mdname: make-interfaces-feel-better
description: >-
Design engineering principles for making interfaces feel polished. Use when building UI components, reviewing frontend code, implementing animations, hover states, shadows, borders, typography, icons, micro-interactions, enter/exit animations, or any visual detail work. Supports quick and full review modes. Triggers on UI polish, design details, "make it feel better", "feels off", stagger animations, border radius, optical alignment, font smoothing, tabular numbers, image outlines, box shadows, icons, icon stroke weight, icon states, motion restraint.
Details that make interfaces feel better
Great interfaces rarely come from a single thing. It's usually a collection of small details that compound into a great experience. Apply these principles when building or reviewing UI code. Before suggesting or writing a fix, identify the project's existing styling system and express the change in that system: Tailwind in a Tailwind project, plain CSS in a CSS project, or the established CSS-in-JS approach. Never introduce a second styling system just to apply a polish fix.
When reviewing, slow the interface down: replay motion at 10% speed in the browser's Animations panel and walk every state: hover, focus, active, loading, empty. What feels off at 10% speed is what's subtly wrong at full speed.
Quick Reference
| Category | When to Use | | --- | --- | | [Typography](typography.md) | Text wrapping, font smoothing, tabular numbers | | [Surfaces](surfaces.md) | Border radius, optical alignment, shadows, image outlines, hit areas | | [Animations](animations.md) | Interruptible animations, enter/exit transitions, icon animations, scale on press, motion restraint | | [Icons](icons.md) | Icon stroke weight, states via `currentColor`, outline vs fill, sizing, RTL flipping | | [Performance](performance.md) | Transition specificity, `will-change` usage |
Core Principles
1. Concentric Border Radius
Outer radius = inner radius + padding. Mismatched radii on nested elements is the most common thing that makes interfaces feel off.
2. Optical Over Geometric Alignment
When geometric centering looks off, align optically. Buttons with icons, play triangles, and asymmetric icons all need manual adjustment.
3. Shadows for Elevation, Borders for Structure
For buttons, cards, and containers whose border exists only to create depth, prefer layered transparent `box-shadow` values. Keep borders that communicate structure or state: dividers, layout separators, and selected or focus states.
4. Interruptible Animations
Use CSS transitions for interactive state changes — they can be interrupted mid-animation. Reserve keyframes for staged sequences that run once.
5. Split and Stagger Enter Animations
For an infrequent staged entrance where sequence helps communicate hierarchy, break content into semantic chunks and stagger them by ~100ms instead of animating one container. Do not stagger routine, high-frequency interactions.
6. Subtle Exit Animations
Use a small fixed `translateY` instead of full height. Exits should be softer than enters. Use `ease-out` for both enter and exit transitions.
7. Contextual Icon Animations
Animate icons with `opacity`, `scale`, and `blur` instead of toggling visibility. Use exactly these values: scale from `0.25` to `1`, opacity from `0` to `1`, blur from `4px` to `0px`. If the project has `motion` or `framer-motion` in `package.json`, match that package's import path (or the established nearby imports when both exist) and use `transition: { type: "spring", duration: 0.3, bounce: 0 }` — bounce must always be `0`. If no motion library is installed, keep both icons in the DOM (one absolute-positioned) and cross-fade with CSS transitions using `cubic-bezier(0.2, 0, 0, 1)` — this gives both enter and exit animations without any dependency.
8. Font Smoothing
Apply `-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased` to the root layout on macOS for crisper text.
9. Tabular Numbers
Use `font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums` for any dynamically updating numbers to prevent layout shift.
10. Text Wrapping
Use `text-wrap: balance` on headings. Use `text-wrap: pretty` for body text to avoid orphans.
11. Image Outlines
Add a subtle `1px` outline with low opacity to images for consistent depth. The color must be pure black in light mode (`oklch(0 0 0 / 0.1)`) and pure white in dark mode (`oklch(1 0 0 / 0.1)`), never a near-black like slate, zinc, or any tinted neutral. A tinted outline picks up the surface color underneath it and reads as dirt on the image edge.
12. Scale on Press
A subtle `scale(0.96)` on click gives buttons tactile feedback. Always use `0.96`. Never use a value smaller than `0.95` — anything below feels exaggerated. Add a `static` prop to disable it when motion would be distracting.
13. Skip Animation on Page Load
Use `initial={false}` on `AnimatePresence` to prevent enter animations on first render. Verify it doesn't break intentional entrance animations.
14. Never Use `transition: all`
Always specify exact properties: `transition-property: scale, opacity`. Tailwind's `transition-transform` covers `transform, translate, scale, rotate`.
15. Use `will-change` Sparingly
Only for `transform`, `opacity`, `filter` — properties the GPU can composite. Never use `will-change: all`. Only add when you notice first-frame stutter.
16. Minimum Hit Area
Interactive elements should prefer a 44×44px hit area for touch or mobile contexts. In dense desktop interfaces, use at least 40×40px. Extend with a pseudo-element if the visible element is smaller. Never let hit areas of two elements overlap.
17. Match Icon Stroke to Text Weight
An icon next to text carries the text's optical weight: `1.5px` stroke beside regular (400) text, `2px` beside semibold (600). One stroke weight per icon set; never mix libraries on one surface.
18. One SVG, Recolored p
Read more
name: make-interfaces-feel-better description: >- Design engineering principles for making interfaces feel polished. Use when building UI components, reviewing frontend code, implementing animations, hover states, shadows, borders, typography, icons, micro-interactions, enter/exit animations, or any visual detail work. Supports quick and full review modes. Triggers on UI polish, design details, "make it feel better", "feels off", stagger animations, border radius, optical alignment, font smoothing, tabular numbers, image outlines, box shadows, icons, icon stroke weight, icon states, motion restraint.
Details that make interfaces feel better
Great interfaces rarely come from a single thing. It's usually a collection of small details that compound into a great experience. Apply these principles when building or reviewing UI code. Before suggesting or writing a fix, identify the project's existing styling system and express the change in that system: Tailwind in a Tailwind project, plain CSS in a CSS project, or the established CSS-in-JS approach. Never introduce a second styling system just to apply a polish fix.
When reviewing, slow the interface down: replay motion at 10% speed in the browser's Animations panel and walk every state: hover, focus, active, loading, empty. What feels off at 10% speed is what's subtly wrong at full speed.
Quick Reference
| Category | When to Use | | --- | --- | | [Typography](typography.md) | Text wrapping, font smoothing, tabular numbers | | [Surfaces](surfaces.md) | Border radius, optical alignment, shadows, image outlines, hit areas | | [Animations](animations.md) | Interruptible animations, enter/exit transitions, icon animations, scale on press, motion restraint | | [Icons](icons.md) | Icon stroke weight, states via `currentColor`, outline vs fill, sizing, RTL flipping | | [Performance](performance.md) | Transition specificity, `will-change` usage |
Core Principles
1. Concentric Border Radius
Outer radius = inner radius + padding. Mismatched radii on nested elements is the most common thing that makes interfaces feel off.
2. Optical Over Geometric Alignment
When geometric centering looks off, align optically. Buttons with icons, play triangles, and asymmetric icons all need manual adjustment.
3. Shadows for Elevation, Borders for Structure
For buttons, cards, and containers whose border exists only to create depth, prefer layered transparent `box-shadow` values. Keep borders that communicate structure or state: dividers, layout separators, and selected or focus states.
4. Interruptible Animations
Use CSS transitions for interactive state changes — they can be interrupted mid-animation. Reserve keyframes for staged sequences that run once.
5. Split and Stagger Enter Animations
For an infrequent staged entrance where sequence helps communicate hierarchy, break content into semantic chunks and stagger them by ~100ms instead of animating one container. Do not stagger routine, high-frequency interactions.
6. Subtle Exit Animations
Use a small fixed `translateY` instead of full height. Exits should be softer than enters. Use `ease-out` for both enter and exit transitions.
7. Contextual Icon Animations
Animate icons with `opacity`, `scale`, and `blur` instead of toggling visibility. Use exactly these values: scale from `0.25` to `1`, opacity from `0` to `1`, blur from `4px` to `0px`. If the project has `motion` or `framer-motion` in `package.json`, match that package's import path (or the established nearby imports when both exist) and use `transition: { type: "spring", duration: 0.3, bounce: 0 }` — bounce must always be `0`. If no motion library is installed, keep both icons in the DOM (one absolute-positioned) and cross-fade with CSS transitions using `cubic-bezier(0.2, 0, 0, 1)` — this gives both enter and exit animations without any dependency.
8. Font Smoothing
Apply `-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased` to the root layout on macOS for crisper text.
9. Tabular Numbers
Use `font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums` for any dynamically updating numbers to prevent layout shift.
10. Text Wrapping
Use `text-wrap: balance` on headings. Use `text-wrap: pretty` for body text to avoid orphans.
11. Image Outlines
Add a subtle `1px` outline with low opacity to images for consistent depth. The color must be pure black in light mode (`oklch(0 0 0 / 0.1)`) and pure white in dark mode (`oklch(1 0 0 / 0.1)`), never a near-black like slate, zinc, or any tinted neutral. A tinted outline picks up the surface color underneath it and reads as dirt on the image edge.
12. Scale on Press
A subtle `scale(0.96)` on click gives buttons tactile feedback. Always use `0.96`. Never use a value smaller than `0.95` — anything below feels exaggerated. Add a `static` prop to disable it when motion would be distracting.
13. Skip Animation on Page Load
Use `initial={false}` on `AnimatePresence` to prevent enter animations on first render. Verify it doesn't break intentional entrance animations.
14. Never Use `transition: all`
Always specify exact properties: `transition-property: scale, opacity`. Tailwind's `transition-transform` covers `transform, translate, scale, rotate`.
15. Use `will-change` Sparingly
Only for `transform`, `opacity`, `filter` — properties the GPU can composite. Never use `will-change: all`. Only add when you notice first-frame stutter.
16. Minimum Hit Area
Interactive elements should prefer a 44×44px hit area for touch or mobile contexts. In dense desktop interfaces, use at least 40×40px. Extend with a pseudo-element if the visible element is smaller. Never let hit areas of two elements overlap.
17. Match Icon Stroke to Text Weight
An icon next to text carries the text's optical weight: `1.5px` stroke beside regular (400) text, `2px` beside semibold (600). One stroke weight per icon set; never mix libraries on one surface.
18. One SVG, Recolored p
An agent skill that helps make your interface feel better.