The small details that make an interface feel finished

---
name: jubayer-ui
description: Reviews and polishes interface details with exact values, covering concentric border radius, optical alignment, shadows versus borders, image outlines, icon stroke and states, press feedback, enter and exit motion, icon cross-fades and theme-switch transitions, plus right-to-left rules for Arabic/English products (which icons mirror and which never do, flipping optical nudges, drawers, swipes, carousels, logical corner radii and x-offset shadows) and a bilingual check. Use when a component or screen looks slightly off, when adding or reviewing hover, press, icon or entrance motion, when choosing radius, shadow or icon values, or when building or reviewing an RTL or bilingual interface.
---

# UI polish

An interface rarely feels unfinished because of one big mistake. It feels unfinished because of a dozen small ones: radii that do not nest, an icon a pixel off-center, a border doing a shadow's job, a transition that cannot be interrupted. This skill lists the details worth fixing and gives the exact value for each, including the ones that break when the same screen runs right to left.

When reviewing, slow the interface down. What feels off at 10% speed is what is subtly wrong at full speed.

Keep the project's component library, tokens and density, and match its motion language except where a rule below prescribes an exact interaction.

Every duration, curve, scale and blur below is a specific value, not a range to approximate. `cubic-bezier(0.2, 0, 0, 1)` is not `cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1)`, and `0.96` is not `0.95`. Use what is written.

Text wrapping, font rendering, tabular numbers and text spacing belong to `jubayer-typography`. Hit areas, focus, keyboard support, ARIA and reduced motion belong to `jubayer-accessibility`. Grouping, section spacing, breakpoints and spatial RTL belong to `jubayer-layout`.

## Concentric border radius

Outer radius = inner radius + padding. Mismatched radii on nested elements is the most common thing that makes an interface feel off. Radius, shadow and outline recipes are in [surfaces.md](surfaces.md).

## Optical over geometric alignment

When geometric centering looks off, align optically. Buttons with icons, play triangles and asymmetric icons all need a manual nudge.

## Shadows for elevation, borders for structure

Where a border exists only to create depth, prefer layered transparent `box-shadow` values. Keep borders that communicate structure or state: dividers, separators and selected or focus states.

## Interruptible animations

Use CSS transitions for interactive state changes, because they can be interrupted mid-animation. Reserve keyframes for staged sequences that run once.

## Split and stagger enter animations

For an infrequent staged entrance where sequence communicates hierarchy, break the content into semantic chunks and stagger them by ~100ms. Animating one container gets you less for the same cost. Leave high-frequency interactions unstaggered. See [enter-exit.md](enter-exit.md).

## Subtle exit animations

Use a small fixed `translateY` rather than full height. Exits should be softer than enters. Use `ease-out` for both directions.

## Contextual icon animations

Animate icons with `opacity`, `scale` and `blur` rather than toggling visibility. Use exactly these values: scale `0.25` to `1`, opacity `0` to `1`, blur `4px` to `0px`.

With a motion library (`motion` or `framer-motion` in `package.json`), match that package's import path, or nearby imports where both exist. Use `transition: { type: "spring", duration: 0.3, bounce: 0 }`. Bounce is always `0`.

Without one, keep both icons in the DOM with one absolutely positioned, and cross-fade with `cubic-bezier(0.2, 0, 0, 1)`. That gives you enter and exit with no dependency. Both recipes are in [icon-transitions.md](icon-transitions.md).

## Image outlines

Give images a `1px` outline at low opacity for consistent depth. Pure black in light mode (`oklch(0 0 0 / 0.1)`), pure white in dark (`oklch(1 0 0 / 0.1)`). Never a near-black like slate or zinc and never a tinted neutral. A tinted outline picks up the surface underneath and reads as dirt on the image edge.

## Scale on press

A `scale(0.96)` on click gives a button tactile feedback. Always `0.96`; anything below `0.95` feels exaggerated. Add a `static` prop to switch it off where motion would distract. See [recipes for CSS, Tailwind and Motion](animations.md#scale-on-press).

## Skip animation on page load

Use `initial={false}` on `AnimatePresence` to keep enter animations off the first render. Check that it leaves intentional page entrances intact.

## Suppress transitions on theme switch

A theme flip changes color, background, border and shadow on nearly every element at once. Every transition on those properties fires together and the switch smears instead of snapping. Inject `*,*::before,*::after{transition:none !important}`, force a reflow, then remove it on the next frame. See the [recipe](animations.md#suppress-transitions-on-theme-switch).

## Transition only what changes

Always name the exact properties: `transition-property: scale, opacity`. Tailwind's `transition-transform` covers `transform, translate, scale, rotate`.

## Use `will-change` sparingly

Only for `transform`, `opacity` and `filter`, which the GPU can composite. Never `will-change: all`. Add it when you see first-frame stutter, not before. See [performance.md](performance.md).

## Match icon stroke to text weight

An icon next to text carries the text's optical weight: `1.5px` stroke beside regular (400) text, `2px` beside semibold (600). One stroke weight per icon set and one icon library per surface. Sizing and RTL flipping are in [icons.md](icons.md), with the full RTL rules in [rtl-icons-and-motion.md](rtl-icons-and-motion.md).

## One SVG, recolored per state

Icons use `currentColor` and take hover, selected and disabled states from CSS color and opacity, never from separate assets. Outline is the default variant; fill marks the active state.

## Motion restraint

Give high-frequency interactions instant feedback, or a transition of `150ms` or less on opacity and color. A custom animation there charges its attention cost on every trigger.

Every animated state change also needs a static cue: color, an icon, or a label. Motion is never the only feedback channel.

## Right to left: icons, motion and corners

Logical properties flip layout; they do not flip icons, transforms, shadows or gestures. Set `dir` in markup (`<html lang="ar" dir="rtl">`) and key every override off `:dir(rtl)` or `[dir="rtl"]`.

- **Mirror only directional icons**: back/forward arrows, navigation chevrons, reading-direction progress, sliders, text and list icons, a composer's send arrow. Never mirror media controls or the scrub bar, clockwise clocks and circular arrows, logos, photos, digits, code, phone numbers or checkmarks.
- **Flip with `scale: -1 1`** (or `transform: scaleX(-1)`) under `:dir(rtl)`. For a glyph with Latin letters or numbers, ship a drawn RTL variant instead.
- **Nudges follow the glyph.** Put padding nudges on logical sides; negate `translate` nudges on mirrored icons; leave the play triangle's nudge physical.
- **Negate horizontal motion.** `translateX()` and Motion's `x` keep their sign. Navigation drawers enter from the inline start, side sheets from the inline end, and carousels, swipe thresholds and edge-swipe back follow the reading direction. JS reading `scrollLeft` must handle negative values.
- **Asymmetric corners use logical properties** (`border-start-start-radius`, `rounded-s-*`); the concentric rule is unchanged.
- **x-offset shadows and directional gradients** need an RTL override; a `--dir: 1 / -1` multiplier keeps each value written once.

Bangla is left to right, so a Bangla/English product mirrors nothing. Recipes and the bilingual checklist are in [rtl-icons-and-motion.md](rtl-icons-and-motion.md).

## Before you finish

| Mistake | Fix |
| --- | --- |
| Icons look off-center | Nudge optically with padding, or fix the SVG |
| Jarring staged entrance or exit | Stagger infrequent entrances; keep exits subtle |
| Theme toggle crossfades the whole page | Disable transitions for the swap, force a reflow, restore on the next frame |
| `transition: all` on elements | Specify exact properties |
| First-frame animation stutter | Add `will-change: transform` (sparingly) |
| Hairline icon beside bold text | Match the stroke width to the text weight |
| Every icon mirrors in RTL, or none do | Mirror only directional icons; play, clocks, logos, digits and checkmarks stay |
| Flipped icon with letters or numbers | Ship a drawn RTL variant |
| Open chevron points up in RTL | Negate the rotation angle under `:dir(rtl)` |
| Drawer, carousel or swipe moves the wrong way in RTL | Anchor with `inset-inline-*` and negate the x value with a direction sign |
| Rounded corner on the wrong side in RTL | Use `border-start-start-radius` and the other logical corners |
| Shadow or fade points the wrong way in RTL | Override the x offset or gradient direction under `:dir(rtl)` |

## Reporting

**Severity.** `HIGH` breaks an interaction, makes motion unusable, or leaves a state change visible only while the animation runs. `MEDIUM` is a visible inconsistency in surfaces, icons, or motion. `LOW` is isolated polish.

**Verification.** Without a browser: every state the component defines, meaning hover, focus, active, loading and empty, plus motion durations and easings read from the code. With one: walk each state, and replay motion at 10% speed in the browser's Animations panel. For a bilingual product, repeat the walk with `dir="rtl"` on `<html>` and real Arabic content, and run the checklist in [rtl-icons-and-motion.md](rtl-icons-and-motion.md#bilingual-checklist). Report every check you could not run as `Not verified`.

**Format.** Group findings under the principle each violates, ordered by severity, one row per root cause listing every location it appears in:

| Severity | Location | Before | After | Why |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |

`Location` is `path/to/file:line`. `Why` names the principle and the user impact.

End with `Block` when any `HIGH` remains, `Approve` otherwise, leaving the rest in the table as work to do. Never `Approve` coverage you did not inspect. With nothing to report, state "No actionable UI-polish findings" and report verification.

## Origin

Based on Jakub Krehel's `better-ui` skill (MIT License), renamed and edited by Maniruzzaman Jubayer, with added right-to-left and bilingual rules. See LICENSE.