Files
linkder/DESIGN.md
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serfowiandClaude Opus 5 582f13fa99 Entry screen is the app: phone frame with a live deck inside
The homepage was a marketing brochure -- a hero paragraph, a "three
steps" explainer and a tag list. It described the gesture in prose
while the actual Tinder deck sat behind /deck/[jobId], reachable only
after signing in AND posting a job. Nobody opening the app ever saw
the product.

Now / renders a phone illustration with the real app running inside
it: the same <Deck>, the same drag physics, real verified pros. On a
phone the bezel collapses and the deck simply fills the viewport --
drawing a picture of a phone on a phone is absurd, and it would eat
the width the cards need.

- Removed the fixed app bar and bottom tab bar. AppShell now renders
  the screen title as an in-flow h1; the bar owned the only h1 on
  every screen, so dropping it silently would have left every page
  headingless. The /jobs "post" action moved from bar chrome into the
  content, since the tab bar was its only other route there.

- getShowcaseDeck(): a deck with no job behind it. getDeck is
  job-scoped (joins jobs for category and location, anti-joins
  swipes), which an anonymous visitor has none of, so this centres on
  the launch city. Eligibility rules are copied verbatim -- nobody may
  appear in the shop window who could not appear on a real deck.

- deck.showcase: the only public procedure in the router. list and
  swipe stay behind clientProcedure. It reads nothing about the caller
  and writes nothing, so a right swipe on the entry screen is purely
  local. No real tradesperson is contacted until a job is posted.

- <Deck> filled a hardcoded 560px desktop box; it now fills its
  container. The card counter moved out from between the two action
  buttons so the thumb zone holds nothing but the two controls.

Verified against the seeded database: 22 eligible pros returned, and
all three seeded traps excluded for the right reason -- Pau Ribas
(22km out, 5km radius), Unverified Ulla (pending), Away Arnau (not
accepting). 7 new integration tests cover exactly that.

Also corrects a label I had written as "Plumbers near you" -- the
showcase deck is not category-filtered and shows every trade.

Includes concurrent edits to the mobile shell, ui/ primitives and
DESIGN.md made outside this session.

typecheck, lint, build clean; 141 tests pass.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-08-21 01:38:00 -04:00

15 KiB
Raw Blame History

Linkder Design System

Version 1.0 · derived from the wix.com design language, adapted for Linkder.

This document is the single source of truth for how Linkder looks. Every screen must be buildable from the tokens and components below. If a screen needs something that is not in here, add it here first, then build it.

Provenance and scope

The visual language is adapted from wix.com (sampled 2026-08-21): the Madefor typeface pair, the signature action blue, the navy-black ink, the pill geometry and the generous whitespace rhythm. Values below were read off the live stylesheet, not eyeballed.

Adopted: typefaces (Wix Madefor Display / Text, published under the SIL Open Font License via Google Fonts), colour ramps, radius and spacing conventions, component geometry.

Not adopted: Wix's logo, wordmark, product names, illustrations or photography. Linkder is not affiliated with Wix and must never present itself as such.


1. Principles

  1. Mobile only. One column, one container, thumb-reachable actions, no desktop layout and no marketing site. See §4 — this constrains every other decision here.
  2. Blue means action. brand-500 is reserved for things the user can do. It is never decoration, never a background wash for a whole section, never body text.
  3. Ink is near-black, not grey. Headings sit at ink-950 (#000624) — black with a blue cast. Grey text is a deliberate demotion, not a default.
  4. Type carries the design. Big, tight display type over ornament. Negative tracking on anything above 24px; zero tracking on body.
  5. Pills for actions, soft rectangles for containers. A pill is clickable. A rounded rectangle holds content. Never the reverse.
  6. Whitespace over borders. Separate with space first, a hairline second, a shadow last.

2. Colour

All values are sampled from wix.com. Hex is normative.

2.1 Brand — action blue

Token Hex Use
brand-50 #EDF3FF Hover fill on ghost / outline controls
brand-100 #DCE8FF Selected-chip fill, info banner background
brand-200 #95B9FF Focus ring halo, disabled primary
brand-400 #5E97FF Dark-mode link and accent text
brand-500 #116DFF Primary action. Buttons, links, active states
brand-600 #094BCC Primary hover / pressed
brand-700 #082F7B Primary active on dark surfaces

brand-500 on white is 4.5:1 — it clears AA for normal text, but only just. Do not tint it lighter for text. On dark surfaces use brand-400 (7.0:1 on ink-950) instead.

2.2 Ink — text and surfaces

Token Hex Use
ink-0 #FFFFFF Card surface, page background (light)
ink-50 #F7F8F8 Alternating section background
ink-100 #F0F0F0 Inset fills, skeletons, track backgrounds
ink-200 #E2E2E2 Hairline borders
ink-300 #C2C2C2 Border on dark, disabled border
ink-400 #B0B0B0 Dark-mode secondary text
ink-500 #8F8F8F Placeholder and disabled text only (3.2:1 — never body copy)
ink-600 #6E6E6E Secondary body text (5.1:1 on white)
ink-800 #212121 Body text on tinted surfaces
ink-950 #000624 Headings, primary text, dark surfaces

2.3 Semantic

Token Hex Meaning
go-50 #F3F8F0 Success banner background
go-100 #D2E4C7 Success border
go-400 #92B079 Success on dark
go-600 #618741 Success — verified, accepted, right-swipe
go-700 #39641D Success pressed
sun-50 #FFE9DF Warning / pending banner background
sun-100 #FFBFA1 Warning border
sun-400 #FA854F Warning on dark
sun-500 #EA6020 Warning — pending review, expiring soon
sun-600 #C94001 Warning pressed
stop-50 #FFECEC Error banner background
stop-100 #FFC9CB Error border
stop-400 #FF6A70 Error on dark
stop-500 #ED1C24 Error / destructive — rejected, left-swipe
stop-600 #C4141B Error pressed

Never use green/red as the only signal. Pair with an icon and a word.

2.4 Dark mode

Dark mode inverts the ink ramp and lightens the accent. It is not a separate palette.

Role Light Dark
Page background ink-0 ink-950
Raised surface (card) ink-0 #0C1230
Sunken surface ink-50 #070C22
Primary text ink-950 ink-0
Secondary text ink-600 ink-400
Hairline ink-200 rgb(255 255 255 / .14)
Accent text / link brand-500 brand-400
Filled primary button brand-500 bg, white text unchanged

3. Typography

3.1 Families

Role Family Weights
Display — h1h3, big numbers, buttons Wix Madefor Display 400800 variable
Text — body, labels, inputs, meta Wix Madefor Text 400800 variable

Fallback stack: 'Segoe UI', system-ui, -apple-system, sans-serif.

Load via next/font/google with display: 'swap', exposed as CSS variables. Never link a stylesheet in <head> — it costs a render-blocking round trip.

3.2 Scale

Display sizes use clamp() so one token works from 360px to desktop.

Token Size Line Tracking Weight Family
display-xl clamp(2.75rem, 6vw, 4.5rem) 1.04 -0.03em 700 Display
display-lg clamp(2.25rem, 4.5vw, 3.25rem) 1.08 -0.025em 700 Display
h1 clamp(1.875rem, 3.5vw, 2.5rem) 1.12 -0.02em 700 Display
h2 clamp(1.5rem, 2.5vw, 2rem) 1.18 -0.02em 700 Display
h3 1.375rem 1.25 -0.015em 600 Display
h4 1.125rem 1.35 -0.01em 600 Display
body-lg 1.125rem 1.55 0 400 Text
body 1rem 1.6 0 400 Text
body-sm 0.875rem 1.5 0 400 Text
meta 0.75rem 1.45 0 500 Text
overline 0.75rem 1.4 0.08em 700 Text, uppercase

3.3 Rules

  • One display element per view. A page has one h1. A card has none.
  • Tracking is negative above 24px and exactly zero below it. Never positive except overline.
  • Body copy maxes at 68 characters (max-w-[68ch]).
  • Headlines use text-balance; paragraphs use text-pretty.
  • Prices, counters and table figures use tabular-nums.

4. Space and layout

Linkder is a mobile-only product. There is no desktop layout, no marketing site and no responsive breakpoint work. Design for a 360430px viewport and nothing else. On a wider screen the app renders as a single 480px column centred on ink-50 — that is a courtesy for someone who opened it on a laptop, not a layout to design for.

Concretely, this bans:

  • Multi-column grids. Everything is one column. A 2-up grid is allowed only for paired numeric fields (from/to, rate/years) and stat tiles.
  • md: / lg: variants that change structure. Type already scales with clamp().
  • Sticky desktop nav bars with link lists, mega-footers, hero sections, feature grids.

An 8px grid. The only legal spacing values are 4 8 12 16 24 32 40 56 72. Anything else is a bug.

Token Width Used for
app 480px Every screen. There is no second container.
  • Page gutter: 20px. One value, all screens.
  • Vertical rhythm between blocks within a screen: 32px. Between major groups: 40px.
  • Gap between sibling cards in a list: 12px.
  • Label → control: 8px. Control → helper text: 8px. Field → field: 24px.
  • Bottom of scroll content clears the tab bar by 88px (pb-22) so nothing hides under it.

4.1 Safe areas

The tab bar and any fixed footer pad with env(safe-area-inset-bottom). The app bar pads with env(safe-area-inset-top). Never assume the viewport edge is reachable.


5. Radius and elevation

Token Value Applies to
radius-pill 999px All buttons, chips, avatars, badges
radius-card 18px Cards, banners, modals
radius-lg 12px Inputs, list rows, small containers
radius-md 8px Tags, thumbnails, inline code
radius-deck 28px The swipe card only

Elevation is restrained. Four steps, no more:

Token Shadow Use
shadow-none Default. Most surfaces are flat with a hairline.
shadow-sm 0 1px 2px rgb(0 6 36 / .06), 0 1px 3px rgb(0 6 36 / .04) Hover on a list row
shadow-md 0 4px 12px rgb(0 6 36 / .08), 0 2px 4px rgb(0 6 36 / .04) Sticky header, popovers
shadow-lg 0 12px 32px rgb(0 6 36 / .12), 0 4px 8px rgb(0 6 36 / .06) Deck card, modal

Shadows are tinted with #000624, never pure black.


6. Components

6.1 Button

Always a pill. Always Display family, weight 600. Label is sentence case, never ALL CAPS.

Variant Fill Text Border Hover
primary brand-500 white none brand-600
dark ink-950 white none #1A2145
outline transparent ink-950 1.5px ink-950 ink-50 fill
ghost transparent brand-500 none brand-50 fill
danger stop-500 white none stop-600
Size Height Padding-x Font
sm 36px 16px body-sm
md 44px 24px body
lg 56px 32px body-lg

Control heights are their own scale — 36 / 44 / 56 for buttons, 48 for inputs. They are exempt from the 8px spacing grid in §4, which governs margins, padding and gaps.

  • Minimum touch target is 44px. sm is desktop-only or must sit inside a 44px row.
  • Disabled: opacity: .45, cursor: not-allowed. Never grey out by swapping colour.
  • Busy: leading 16px spinner, label unchanged, control disabled. Never replace the label.
  • Icon-only buttons are circles and require aria-label.

6.2 Input, textarea, select

  • radius-lg (12px), 1.5px ink-200 border, ink-0 fill, 16px text (never smaller — iOS zooms below 16px), padding 12px 16px, height 48px.
  • Focus: border brand-500 + 0 0 0 3px brand-200. Never remove the outline without replacing it.
  • Error: border stop-500, message below in body-sm stop-500 with role="alert".
  • Placeholder is ink-500 and never carries meaning the label doesn't.
  • Every control has a visible <label>. Placeholder-as-label is forbidden.

6.3 Card

ink-0 surface, radius-card, 1px ink-200 hairline, shadow-none. Padding 24px (20px below 640px). Interactive cards raise to shadow-sm and shift the border to brand-500 on hover; they do not lift or scale.

6.4 Chip / selectable tag

Pill, 1.5px border, 12px 16px padding, body-sm. Unselected: ink-200 border on transparent. Selected: brand-500 border, brand-100 fill, weight 600, leading check icon. Selection must never rely on fill alone.

6.5 Banner / status card

radius-card, 20px padding, 12px icon-to-text gap, tinted surface + matching border:

Tone Fill Border Icon
info brand-100 brand-200 brand-500
success go-50 go-100 go-600
warning sun-50 sun-100 sun-500
error stop-50 stop-100 stop-500

Title in h4, body in body-sm ink-600.

6.6 App bar

Fixed top, 56px plus top safe-area inset. page surface at 88% opacity with backdrop-blur(12px) and a hairline bottom border.

Two layouts only:

  • Root screens — screen title left in h4, at most one icon action right.
  • Pushed screens — 44px back chevron left, centred title in h4, optional icon action right.

No link lists. No CTA button in the bar — the primary action lives in the screen or the tab bar.

6.7 Tab bar

Fixed bottom, 56px plus bottom safe-area inset, page surface, hairline top border. Two to five destinations, each a 44px-minimum target with a 24px icon over a meta label. Active tab is brand-500 icon + label; inactive is ink-600. The active state carries both colour and weight, never colour alone.

The tab bar is the app's only persistent navigation. There is no footer.

6.8 Deck card

The one place that breaks the flat rule. radius-deck (28px), shadow-lg, full-bleed photo, bottom scrim linear-gradient(to top, rgb(0 6 36 / .92), rgb(0 6 36 / .35) 45%, transparent). Overlay stamps: SEND JOB in go-600, PASS in stop-500, 4px border, ±12° rotation. Action buttons are 64px circles, 2px border, ink-0 fill.


7. Motion

Token Duration Easing Use
motion-fast 120ms cubic-bezier(.4,0,.2,1) Hover, focus, colour
motion-base 200ms cubic-bezier(.4,0,.2,1) Enter / exit, expand
motion-slow 320ms cubic-bezier(.22,1,.36,1) Page and card transitions

Transition color, background-color, border-color, opacity, transform — never all. Non-essential animation is wrapped in @media (prefers-reduced-motion: no-preference). The deck's drag is essential and stays; its spring flattens under reduced motion.


8. Accessibility floor

  • Body text ≥ 4.5:1, large text and UI borders ≥ 3:1. ink-500 fails body text — placeholder only.
  • Visible focus on every interactive element: 0 0 0 3px brand-200 plus a brand-500 border.
  • Touch targets ≥ 44×44px.
  • Colour is never the sole carrier of meaning.
  • One h1 per page, headings in order, no level skipped for size.
  • Decorative images alt=""; icons inside labelled controls aria-hidden.

9. Do / Don't

Don't Do
Square-cornered buttons radius-pill, always
brand-500 as a section background White or ink-50; blue for the CTA inside it
Grey #8F8F8F body copy ink-600 for secondary text
Positive letter-spacing on headings -0.02em and tighter
Three shadows on one screen One raised element per view
transition: all Name the properties
Placeholder standing in for a label Visible <label> every time
Arbitrary values like py-[13px] The 8px scale
A second accent colour Blue is the only accent
Multi-column grids, md: structure changes One column, always
A marketing hero or feature grid This is an app, not a website
A footer The tab bar is the only persistent nav
An action out of thumb reach Primary actions sit low, near the tab bar

10. Where this lives in code

Concern File
Token definitions (@theme), base layer, dark mode apps/web/src/styles/globals.css
Font loading, chrome wiring apps/web/src/app/layout.tsx
Button, Input, Card, Chip, Banner, Field primitives apps/web/src/components/ui/
App bar and tab bar apps/web/src/components/chrome/

Screens compose primitives. A screen that writes its own rounded-xl bg-[#...] has bypassed the system — fix the primitive instead.