dembrandt

A brand's visual tone — playful or serious, rounded or angular — should be consistent across all UI elements. Shape language in typography, border-radius, and iconography communicates personality before a single word is read. Use when establishing a design system, choosing icon libraries, setting border-radius tokens, or reviewing visual consistency.

Related features and tasks — such as purchase flows, onboarding, or multi-step configuration — should be designed as natural, guided paths that feel coherent and fit the product hierarchy. Use wizards for complex sequential tasks. Use when designing flows, onboarding, checkout, setup sequences, or any multi-step user journey.

Elevation — subtle shadows and layering — communicates visual hierarchy by lifting elements above the surface. Combined with border-radius, it creates the tactile quality of cards, modals, and interactive surfaces. Use when designing cards, dropdowns, modals, tooltips, or any floating UI element.

UI must comply with WCAG 2.2 Level AA, as required by the European Accessibility Act (EN 301 549). Do not deviate without deliberate justification. Disabled UI elements are explicitly exempt from colour contrast requirements. Use when designing, building, or reviewing any user-facing interface for accessibility compliance.

Choose light, dark, or combined color mode deliberately based on brand tone and user context. Offer a theme selector only when user control genuinely matters — enterprise tools, data-heavy UIs, or extended-use applications. Use when defining the base color palette, designing a design system, or deciding whether to build dark mode support.

O design e a revisão de UI devem aplicar as 10 Heurísticas de Usabilidade de Nielsen — os princípios fundamentais para avaliar e melhorar a usabilidade. Use ao auditar uma interface, projetar fluxos de interação, escrever mensagens de erro ou revisar qualquer UI em busca de problemas de usabilidade.

UI density — how much information and how many features appear at once — should match the primary platform and user type. Desktop supports dense, feature-rich interfaces; mobile requires focused, reduced layouts. Enterprise power users tolerate higher density than occasional users. Use when designing data tables, dashboards, toolbars, or adapting a desktop product for mobile.

Forms have three layers of guidance: helper text below the input explains what to enter, placeholder shows the expected format, and validation confirms correctness. Real-time validation for complex inputs. Submit enables only when the form is valid. Use when designing or reviewing any form, input field, or data entry UI.