Mike Swanson
e80c36e6bf
Author: Mike Swanson Machine: DESKTOP-0O8A1RL Timestamp: 2026-05-22 11:07:55
63 lines
4.0 KiB
Markdown
63 lines
4.0 KiB
Markdown
# Product register
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When design SERVES the product: app UIs, admin dashboards, settings panels, data tables, tools, authenticated surfaces, anything where the user is in a task.
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## The product slop test
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Not "would someone say AI made this." Familiarity is often a feature here. The test is: would a user fluent in the category's best tools (Linear, Figma, Notion, Raycast, Stripe come to mind) sit down and trust this interface, or pause at every subtly-off component?
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Product UI's failure mode isn't flatness, it's strangeness without purpose: over-decorated buttons, mismatched form controls, gratuitous motion, display fonts where labels should be, invented affordances for standard tasks. The bar is earned familiarity. The tool should disappear into the task.
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## Typography
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- **System fonts are legitimate.** `-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", system-ui, sans-serif` gives you native feel on every platform. Inter is the common cross-platform default for a reason.
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- **One family is often right.** Product UIs don't need display/body pairing. A well-tuned sans carries headings, buttons, labels, body, data.
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- **Fixed rem scale, not fluid.** Clamp-sized headings don't serve product UI. Users view at consistent DPI, and a fluid h1 that shrinks in a sidebar looks worse, not better.
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- **Tighter scale ratio.** 1.125–1.2 between steps is typical. More type elements here than on brand surfaces; exaggerated contrast creates noise.
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- **Line length still applies for prose** (65–75ch). Data and compact UI can run denser; tables at 120ch+ are fine.
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## Color
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Product defaults to Restrained. A single surface can earn Committed (a dashboard where one category color carries a report, an onboarding flow with a drenched welcome screen), but Restrained is the floor.
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- State-rich semantic vocabulary: hover, focus, active, disabled, selected, loading, error, warning, success, info. Standardize these.
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- Accent color used for primary actions, current selection, and state indicators only, not decoration.
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- A second neutral layer for sidebars, toolbars, and panels (slightly cooler or warmer than the content surface).
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## Layout
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- Predictable grids. Consistency IS an affordance; users navigate faster when the structure is expected.
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- Familiar patterns are features. Standard navigation (top bar, side nav), breadcrumbs, tabs, and form layouts have established user expectations. Don't reinvent for flavor.
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- Responsive behavior is structural (collapse sidebar, responsive table, breakpoint-driven columns), not fluid typography.
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## Components
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Every interactive component has: default, hover, focus, active, disabled, loading, error. Don't ship with half of these.
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- Skeleton states for loading, not spinners in the middle of content.
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- Empty states that teach the interface, not "nothing here."
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- Consistent affordances across the surface. Same button shape. Same form-control vocabulary. Same icon style.
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## Motion
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- 150–250 ms on most transitions. Users are in flow; don't make them wait for choreography.
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- Motion conveys state, not decoration. State change, feedback, loading, reveal: nothing else.
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- No orchestrated page-load sequences. Product loads into a task; users don't want to watch it load.
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## Product bans (on top of the shared absolute bans)
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- Decorative motion that doesn't convey state.
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- Inconsistent component vocabulary across screens. If the "save" button looks different in two places, one is wrong.
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- Display fonts in UI labels, buttons, data.
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- Reinventing standard affordances for flavor (custom scrollbars, weird form controls, non-standard modals).
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- Heavy color or full-saturation accents on inactive states.
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## Product permissions
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Product can afford things brand surfaces can't.
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- System fonts and familiar sans defaults (Inter, SF Pro, system-ui stacks).
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- Standard navigation patterns: top bar + side nav, breadcrumbs, tabs, command palettes.
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- Density. Tables with many rows, panels with many labels, dense information when users need it.
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- Consistency over surprise. The same visual vocabulary screen to screen is a virtue; delight is saved for moments, not pages.
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