Gsd-2 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, micro-interactions, enter/exit animations, or any visual detail work. 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.

install

source · Clone the upstream repo

git clone https://github.com/gsd-build/gsd-2

Claude Code · Install into ~/.claude/skills/

T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/gsd-build/gsd-2 "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r "$T/src/resources/skills/make-interfaces-feel-better" ~/.claude/skills/gsd-build-gsd-2-make-interfaces-feel-better && rm -rf "$T"

manifest: src/resources/skills/make-interfaces-feel-better/SKILL.md

source content

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.

Quick Reference

Category	When to Use
Typography	Text wrapping, font smoothing, tabular numbers
Surfaces	Border radius, optical alignment, shadows, image outlines, hit areas
Animations	Interruptible animations, enter/exit transitions, icon animations, scale on press
Performance	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 Over Borders

Layer multiple transparent

box-shadow

values for natural depth. Shadows adapt to any background; solid borders don't.

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

Don't animate a single container. Break content into semantic chunks and stagger each with ~100ms delay.

6. Subtle Exit Animations

Use a small fixed

translateY

instead of full height. Exits should be softer than enters.

7. Contextual Icon Animations

Animate icons with

opacity

scale

, and

blur

instead of toggling visibility. Use exactly these values: scale from

0.25

, opacity from

, blur from

4px

0px

. If the project has

motion

framer-motion

package.json

, use

transition: { type: "spring", duration: 0.3, bounce: 0 }

— bounce must always be

. 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.

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}

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 need at least 40×40px hit area. Extend with a pseudo-element if the visible element is smaller. Never let hit areas of two elements overlap.

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Fix
Same border radius on parent and child	Calculate `outerRadius = innerRadius + padding`
Icons look off-center	Adjust optically with padding or fix SVG directly
Hard borders between sections	Use layered `box-shadow` with transparency
Jarring enter/exit animations	Split, stagger, and keep exits subtle
Numbers cause layout shift	Apply `tabular-nums`
Heavy text on macOS	Apply `antialiased` to root
Animation plays on page load	Add `initial={false}` to `AnimatePresence`
`transition: all` on elements	Specify exact properties
First-frame animation stutter	Add `will-change: transform` (sparingly)
Tiny hit areas on small controls	Extend with pseudo-element to 40×40px

Review Checklist

Nested rounded elements use concentric border radius
Icons are optically centered, not just geometrically
Shadows used instead of borders where appropriate
Enter animations are split and staggered
Exit animations are subtle
Dynamic numbers use tabular-nums
Font smoothing is applied
Headings use text-wrap: balance
Images have subtle outlines
Buttons use scale on press where appropriate
AnimatePresence uses
```
initial={false}
```
for default-state elements
No
```
transition: all
```
— only specific properties
```
will-change
```
only on transform/opacity/filter, never
```
all
```
Interactive elements have at least 40×40px hit area

Reference Files

typography.md — Text wrapping, font smoothing, tabular numbers
surfaces.md — Border radius, optical alignment, shadows, image outlines
animations.md — Interruptible animations, enter/exit transitions, icon animations, scale on press
performance.md — Transition specificity,
```
will-change
```
usage