Design audit

Design Audit

The final checkpoint. Loaded by /genjutsu:paint at the end of the pipeline. Scans the codebase for motion gaps, a11y violations, perf issues, and inconsistencies.

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Motion Gap Analysis

Run these greps against the project to detect missing animations.

Conditional renders without AnimatePresence

grep -rn '{.*&&\s*<\|{.*?\s*:\s*<\|{.*ternary.*<' --include='*.tsx' --include='*.jsx' src/ | grep -v 'AnimatePresence'

Look for: {show && <Component />} or ternary renders without a wrapping <AnimatePresence>. Every conditional mount/unmount needs exit animation support.

Hover states without transition

grep -rn ':hover' --include='*.css' --include='*.scss' --include='*.module.css' src/ | grep -vE 'transition|animation'

Every :hover rule must have a corresponding transition on the base selector. Instant state flips feel broken.

Dynamic lists without stagger

grep -rn '\.map(' --include='*.tsx' --include='*.jsx' src/ | grep -vE 'stagger|delay.*index|variants|transition.*delay'

Lists rendered via .map() should stagger their entrance. Simultaneous pop-in looks cheap.

Style changes without transition

grep -rn 'style={{' --include='*.tsx' --include='*.jsx' src/ | grep -vE 'transition|transform|opacity'

Inline style changes (e.g., dynamic background, color) need a CSS transition or motion wrapper.

Entries without corresponding exits

grep -rn 'initial=' --include='*.tsx' --include='*.jsx' src/ | grep -v 'exit='

Every Framer Motion initial + animate should have an exit prop when inside AnimatePresence.

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Accessibility Audit

Reduced motion - MANDATORY

A project with animation MUST have at least one global handler matching its stack. Run all 3 greps:

# Web
grep -rn 'prefers-reduced-motion' --include='*.css' --include='*.scss' --include='*.ts' --include='*.tsx' --include='*.js' --include='*.jsx' src/ 2>/dev/null

# SwiftUI / UIKit
grep -rn 'accessibilityReduceMotion\|isReduceMotionEnabled\|reduceMotionStatusDidChangeNotification' --include='*.swift' . 2>/dev/null

# Compose
grep -rn 'LocalAccessibilityManager\|isReduceTransitions\|TRANSITION_ANIMATION_SCALE\|ANIMATOR_DURATION_SCALE\|areAnimatorsEnabled' --include='*.kt' . 2>/dev/null

Zero results across all 3 in an animated project = critical violation. At least one handler must exist somewhere. Cross-reference motion-principles/SKILL.md for canonical implementations per stack.

Contrast ratio 4.5:1

• Use browser DevTools (Inspect > color swatch > contrast ratio)
• Run npx pa11y <url> or Lighthouse accessibility audit
• Check animated text at mid-transition -- fading text must remain readable at every opacity above 0.4

Focus visible on all interactives

grep -rn 'outline:\s*none\|outline:\s*0' --include='*.css' --include='*.scss' --include='*.module.css' src/

Any outline: none MUST be paired with a custom :focus-visible style. Removing focus rings without replacement is a WCAG failure.

Semantic HTML -- no clickable divs

grep -rn 'onClick' --include='*.tsx' --include='*.jsx' src/ | grep -E '<div|<span' | grep -v 'role='

Every <div onClick> or <span onClick> must either be a <button>, an <a>, or have role="button" + tabIndex + onKeyDown.

ARIA on decorative animations

grep -rn '<motion\.\|<animated\.\|<Lottie\|<Canvas' --include='*.tsx' --include='*.jsx' src/ | grep -v 'aria-hidden'

Purely decorative animations (background particles, ambient motion, Lottie illustrations) must have aria-hidden="true" to avoid polluting screen readers.

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Performance Audit

Layout thrashing -- animating layout properties

grep -rn 'transition.*\(width\|height\|top\|left\|right\|bottom\|margin\|padding\)' --include='*.css' --include='*.scss' --include='*.module.css' src/

Animating layout properties triggers reflow every frame. Replace with transform: translate/scale and opacity.

Excessive paint triggers

grep -rn 'will-change' --include='*.css' --include='*.scss' --include='*.module.css' src/

will-change should be rare and scoped. If more than ~5 elements use it permanently, the GPU memory cost outweighs the benefit. Apply it dynamically (add on hover/focus, remove on animation end).

Animation library bundle cost

Check actual impact:

npx source-map-explorer dist/**/*.js 2>/dev/null || npx vite-bundle-visualizer 2>/dev/null

Reference sizes (gzipped): framer-motion ~30KB, GSAP ~25KB, popmotion ~5KB, CSS-only = 0KB. If the project only uses fade+slide, a 30KB lib is overkill.

On mobile native, the APK / IPA size matters. A third-party animation library adds typically 500KB-2MB:

Library	Size impact (uncompressed)
Lottie (iOS)	~600KB
Lottie (Android)	~900KB
Rive (iOS)	~1.5MB
Rive (Android)	~2MB
Native Compose / SwiftUI animations	0KB (built-in)

If the project only uses fades, slides, and springs, native APIs (Compose animate*AsState + spring, SwiftUI withAnimation) are sufficient. Justify a Lottie / Rive dependency only for genuinely complex pre-designed animations (e.g., onboarding illustrations).

requestAnimationFrame vs setTimeout

grep -rn 'setTimeout\|setInterval' --include='*.ts' --include='*.tsx' --include='*.js' --include='*.jsx' src/ | grep -iE 'anim\|motion\|scroll\|position\|style\|transform'

Animation loops must use requestAnimationFrame. setTimeout/setInterval causes frame drops and doesn't pause in background tabs.

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Consistency Audit

Duration consistency

grep -rnoE 'duration[:"'\''= ]+[0-9.]+' --include='*.tsx' --include='*.jsx' --include='*.ts' --include='*.css' --include='*.scss' src/ | sort -t: -k3 | uniq -c -f2 | sort -rn

A well-designed project uses 3-5 distinct durations max (e.g., 0.15, 0.25, 0.35, 0.5). If you see 15 different values, extract them into a motion tokens file.

Easing inventory

Run all 3 greps to inventory easing values across the codebase:

# Web (CSS / JS / TSX)
grep -rnoE 'ease[A-Za-z]*|cubic-bezier\([^)]+\)|spring\([^)]*\)' --include='*.tsx' --include='*.jsx' --include='*.ts' --include='*.css' --include='*.scss' src/ 2>/dev/null

# SwiftUI
grep -rnoE '\.spring\([^)]*\)|\.snappy|\.bouncy|\.smooth|\.linear\(|\.easeIn|\.easeOut|\.interpolatingSpring' --include='*.swift' . 2>/dev/null

# Compose
grep -rnoE 'spring\([^)]*\)|tween\([^)]*\)|FastOutSlowInEasing|LinearOutSlowInEasing|FastOutLinearInEasing|CubicBezierEasing' --include='*.kt' . 2>/dev/null

Same rule across all stacks: 3-5 named easings max in the design system. Random values scattered across files = visual inconsistency. If the codebase has 12 different cubic-bezier(...) values or 8 custom spring(response:dampingFraction:) configurations, that's a design-system violation, fix it by centralizing into named tokens.

Symmetric enter/exit

Scan for motion components and verify that:

• Enter duration >= exit duration (never the reverse)
• Enter uses ease-out, exit uses ease-in
• Enter has full choreography (translate + opacity + scale), exit is simpler (opacity only or opacity + slight scale)

grep -A5 'exit=' --include='*.tsx' --include='*.jsx' -rn src/

Compare animate and exit props side by side. Asymmetric timing (fast exit, slow enter) is correct. The reverse is wrong.

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Stack-specific audit

Pick the subsection matching the project stack.

Compose (Android / Multiplatform)

• Run Layout Inspector (Android Studio): inspect recompositions, identify components recomposing on every state change.
• Run Macrobenchmark (androidx.benchmark.macro): measure frame timing on a real device under representative scrolling / animation load. Target: <16.67ms per frame at 60fps, <8.33ms at 120fps.
• Inspect recomposition counts via Modifier.recomposeHighlighter() (Compose 1.6+) or Layout Inspector.
• Generate Baseline Profiles (BaselineProfileGenerator) for production builds.
• Verify Modifier.semantics is set on custom components (TalkBack support).

SwiftUI (iOS / macOS)

• Run Instruments Time Profiler: identify hot paths during animation (target: zero frames over 16.67ms).
• Run Instruments Hitches Instrument (iOS 14+): detects dropped frames and stalls.
• Run Instruments GPU Frame Capture for Metal shaders: verify shader compile time, GPU vs CPU bottleneck.
• Verify .accessibilityLabel / .accessibilityHint on every interactive view.
• Test with Dynamic Type at 200% size (Environment Overrides in Xcode).
• Test with Reduce Motion ON.

Web

• Existing checklist above (Lighthouse, Chrome DevTools Performance, etc.).

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Output Format

Structure findings by severity:

Critical (must fix before ship)

• Missing prefers-reduced-motion handling
• Clickable divs without keyboard support
• outline: none without :focus-visible replacement
• Animating layout properties (width/height/top/left)

Important (fix in current sprint)

• Conditional renders without AnimatePresence
• Hover states without transition
• Missing aria-hidden on decorative animations
• setTimeout used for animation loops
• Inconsistent durations (>8 unique values)

Nice-to-have (backlog)

• Lists without stagger animation
• Inline styles without transition
• Excessive will-change usage
• Asymmetric enter/exit (wrong direction)
• Animation library oversized for actual usage