UI/UX Best Practices Frontend Design
Comprehensive UI/UX and frontend design best practices guide. Contains 42 rules across 8 categories, prioritized by impact to guide accessible, performant, and user-friendly interface development.
When to Apply
Reference these guidelines when:
- Structuring HTML for accessibility and semantics
- Writing CSS for responsive layouts and visual hierarchy
- Optimizing images and fonts for Core Web Vitals
- Designing forms with proper validation and error handling
- Adding animations and interactive elements
Rule Categories by Priority
| Priority | Category | Impact | Prefix |
|----------|----------|--------|--------|
| 1 | Accessibility & WCAG Compliance | CRITICAL | access- |
| 2 | Core Web Vitals Optimization | CRITICAL | cwv- |
| 3 | Visual Hierarchy & Layout | HIGH | layout- |
| 4 | Responsive & Mobile-First Design | HIGH | resp- |
| 5 | Typography & Font Loading | MEDIUM-HIGH | typo- |
| 6 | Color & Contrast | MEDIUM | color- |
| 7 | Forms & Validation UX | MEDIUM | form- |
| 8 | Animation & Performance | LOW-MEDIUM | anim- |
Quick Reference
1. Accessibility & WCAG Compliance (CRITICAL)
access-semantic-html- Use semantic HTML elements for screen readersaccess-keyboard-navigation- Ensure full keyboard navigationaccess-focus-indicators- Provide visible focus indicatorsaccess-alt-text- Provide meaningful alt text for imagesaccess-aria-labels- Use ARIA labels for icon-only controlsaccess-target-size- Ensure minimum touch target size (24×24px)access-heading-hierarchy- Maintain logical heading hierarchy
2. Core Web Vitals Optimization (CRITICAL)
cwv-optimize-lcp- Optimize Largest Contentful Paint under 2.5scwv-minimize-cls- Minimize Cumulative Layout Shift under 0.1cwv-improve-inp- Improve Interaction to Next Paint under 200mscwv-responsive-images- Serve responsive images with srcsetcwv-lazy-load-offscreen- Lazy load offscreen images and iframescwv-critical-css- Inline critical CSS and defer the rest
3. Visual Hierarchy & Layout (HIGH)
layout-visual-hierarchy- Establish clear visual hierarchylayout-whitespace- Use whitespace to improve readabilitylayout-f-pattern- Design for F-pattern reading behaviorlayout-grid-system- Use a consistent grid systemlayout-single-cta- Limit to one primary CTA per screenlayout-proximity-grouping- Group related elements with proximity
4. Responsive & Mobile-First Design (HIGH)
resp-mobile-first- Design mobile-first with min-width queriesresp-fluid-typography- Use fluid typography with clamp()resp-container-queries- Use container queries for componentsresp-touch-targets- Size touch targets for mobile (44×44px)resp-viewport-meta- Configure viewport meta tag correctly
5. Typography & Font Loading (MEDIUM-HIGH)
typo-font-display- Use font-display to control loading behaviortypo-preload-fonts- Preload critical web fontstypo-readable-line-length- Constrain line length (45-75ch)typo-line-height- Set appropriate line height (1.5-1.7)typo-system-font-stack- Use system font stack for UI elements
6. Color & Contrast (MEDIUM)
color-contrast-ratio- Meet WCAG contrast ratio requirements (4.5:1)color-not-only-indicator- Never use color alone to convey informationcolor-dark-mode- Support dark mode with prefers-color-schemecolor-semantic-palette- Use semantic color names in design tokens
7. Forms & Validation UX (MEDIUM)
form-inline-validation- Use inline validation after field blurform-error-messages- Write actionable error messagesform-labels-above- Place labels above input fieldsform-input-types- Use correct HTML input types for mobileform-autocomplete- Enable browser autocomplete with correct attributes
8. Animation & Performance (LOW-MEDIUM)
anim-gpu-properties- Animate only GPU-accelerated propertiesanim-will-change- Use will-change sparingly for animation hintsanim-reduced-motion- Respect user motion preferencesanim-duration-easing- Use appropriate animation duration and easing
How to Use
Read individual reference files for detailed explanations and code examples:
- Section definitions - Category structure and impact levels
- Rule template - Template for adding new rules
- Example: access-semantic-html
Full Compiled Document
For the complete guide with all rules expanded: AGENTS.md