UI/UX design systems specialist covering accessibility, icons, theming, design tokens, and user experience patterns. Use when user asks about design systems, WCAG accessibility compliance, ARIA patterns, icon libraries, dark mode theming, design tokens, or user experience research. Do NOT use for React component coding or frontend implementation (use moai-domain-frontend instead) or shadcn/ui specifics (use moai-library-shadcn instead).
UI/UX design systems specialist covering accessibility, icons, theming, design tokens, and user experience patterns. Use when user asks about design systems, WCAG accessibility compliance, ARIA patterns, icon libraries, dark mode theming, design tokens, or user experience research. Do NOT use for React component coding or frontend implementation (use moai-domain-frontend instead) or shadcn/ui specifics (use moai-library-shadcn instead).
React 19 with Server Components and Concurrent Rendering
TypeScript 5.5 with full type safety and improved inference
Tailwind CSS 3.4 with JIT compilation, CSS variables, and dark mode
Radix UI for unstyled accessible primitives
W3C DTCG 2025.10 for design token specification
Style Dictionary 4.0 for token transformation
Pencil MCP for design-to-code automation
Storybook 8.x for component documentation
Quick Decision Guide:
For design tokens, use modules/design-system-tokens.md with DTCG 2025.10 and Style Dictionary 4.0.
For component patterns, use modules/component-architecture.md with Atomic Design, React 19, and shadcn/ui.
For accessibility, use modules/accessibility-wcag.md with WCAG 2.2, jest-axe, and keyboard navigation.
For icons, use modules/icon-libraries.md with Lucide, React Icons, Tabler, and Iconify.
For theming, use modules/theming-system.md with CSS variables and Theme Provider.
For practical examples, use examples.md with React and Vue implementations.
Quick Start Workflows
Design System Setup
Step 1: Initialize design tokens by creating a JSON file with DTCG schema URL. Define color tokens with type color and primary 500 value. Define spacing tokens with type dimension and md value of 1rem.
Step 2: Transform tokens with Style Dictionary by installing the package and running the build command.
Step 3: Integrate with components by importing colors and spacing from the tokens directory.
See modules/design-system-tokens.md for complete token architecture.
Component Library Setup
Step 1: Initialize shadcn/ui by running the init command, then add button, form, and dialog components.
Step 2: Set up Atomic Design structure with atoms directory for Button, Input, and Label components, molecules directory for FormGroup and Card components, and organisms directory for DataTable and Modal components.
Step 3: Implement with accessibility by adding aria-label attributes to interactive elements.
See modules/component-architecture.md for patterns and examples.
Icon System Integration
Step 1: Choose icon library based on needs. Install lucide-react for general purpose, iconify/react for maximum variety, or tabler/icons-react for dashboard optimization.
Step 2: Implement type-safe icons by importing specific icons and applying className for sizing and color.
See modules/icon-libraries.md for library comparison and optimization.
Theme System Setup
Step 1: Configure CSS variables in root selector for primary and background colors. Define dark class with inverted values for dark mode.
Step 2: Implement Theme Provider by wrapping the application with attribute set to class and defaultTheme set to system.
See modules/theming-system.md for complete theme system.
Key Principles
Design Token First:
Single source of truth for design decisions
Semantic naming using color.primary.500 format rather than blue-500
Multi-theme support for light and dark modes
Platform-agnostic transformation
Accessibility by Default:
WCAG 2.2 AA minimum with 4.5:1 text contrast
Keyboard navigation for all interactive elements
ARIA attributes for screen readers
Focus management and visible indicators
Component Composition:
Atomic Design hierarchy from Atoms to Molecules to Organisms
Props API for reusability
Variant-based styling rather than separate components
Type-safe with TypeScript
Performance Optimization:
Tree-shaking for icons by importing specific icons rather than all
Lazy loading for large components
React.memo for expensive renders
Bundle size monitoring
Best Practices
Required Practices:
Use design tokens exclusively for all color, spacing, and typography values. Design tokens provide a single source of truth, enabling consistent theming, multi-platform support, and scalable design systems. Hardcoded values create maintenance debt and break theme switching.
Include ARIA labels on all icon-only interactive elements. Screen readers cannot interpret visual icons without text alternatives. Missing ARIA labels violate WCAG 2.2 AA compliance.
Import icons individually rather than using namespace imports. Namespace imports bundle entire libraries, defeating tree-shaking optimization. Bundle sizes increase by 500KB-2MB per icon library.
Test all components in both light and dark modes. Theme switching affects color contrast, readability, and accessibility compliance.
Implement keyboard navigation for all interactive components. Keyboard-only users require Tab, Enter, Escape, and Arrow key support.
Provide visible focus indicators for all focusable elements. Focus indicators communicate current keyboard position for navigation and accessibility.
Use Tailwind utility classes instead of inline styles. Tailwind provides consistent spacing scale, responsive design, and automatic purging for optimal bundle sizes.
Include loading states for all asynchronous operations. Loading states provide feedback during data fetching, preventing user uncertainty.
Works Well With
Skills:
moai-lang-typescript - TypeScript and JavaScript best practices
