name: ui-design-iteration
description: Iterates on data-intensive UI designs to improve scannability, hierarchy, accessibility, and systematization. Use when improving an existing UI, reviewing a design for UX issues, or transforming a functional-but-flat interface into a polished product.

UI Design Iteration

Transform functional-but-flat interfaces into scannable, actionable, accessible designs.

Core Principles

1. Align labels with user intent

• Page titles and nav labels should reflect the user's job, not internal terminology
• Group navigation by intent (Create, Review, Analyze, Manage)
• Ensure naming consistency across title, nav, tabs, and empty states

2. Make primary actions unmistakable

• One primary CTA per screen with consistent placement
• Provide contextual "next step" affordances near where attention already is
• Secondary actions visible but subordinate; tertiary actions in overflow menus

3. Improve scannability through hierarchy

• Strengthen typographic hierarchy: title → section headers → row primary → metadata
• Consistent row heights, spacing, and alignment
• Use whitespace and dividers to encode structure, not decoration

4. Make state explicit everywhere

• Represent modes with tabs/segmented controls
• Selection needs multiple cues: indicator + weight + background (not color alone)
• Summarize active automation/filters where relevant

5. Systematize the visual design

• Standardize spacing, typography, and color via tokens
• Use accent color for priority and state, not decoration
• Build reusable components rather than one-off styles

Iteration Playbook

A. Reframe the page

Define the job statement: "User comes here to ____."
- Update page title and nav selection to reflect that job
- Remove ambiguous or overlapping labels

B. Establish action hierarchy

Identify primary (most common), secondary (common but not main path), and tertiary (rare, collapse to overflow) actions.
- Only one primary button style per screen
- Place contextual next-step affordance near the data surface

C. Chunk dense controls

Replace walls of toggles/fields with:
- Group headers + short descriptions
- Progressive disclosure for advanced settings
- Aligned labels and descriptions for quick scanning

D. Increase scan speed for data surfaces

• Consistent columns and alignment
• Primary value bold, metadata muted
• Row actions right-aligned with overflow
• Truncation that preserves meaning (with tooltip/detail access)

E. Clarify modes and location

• Top-level modes via tabs/segmented control
• Active filters shown as chips with clear remove affordance
• Context line under headers showing scope when needed

Quick References

Accessibility requirements: See CHECKLIST.md
Reusable component patterns: See COMPONENTS.md

Output Format

When completing an iteration, produce:

1. Design intent — 1-2 sentences on what job is supported and what changed
2. Key UX changes — Bulleted, mapped to the principles above
3. Component updates — What was created or standardized
4. A11y verification — Contrast, focus, labels, targets, truncation
5. Known risks — Only if materially impacting usability