Anti AI Slop: Design & Copy Rules. UI & Visual skill

Part of the antislop system. Read together with

antislop.md

(the core). This skill deep-dives the UI/visual concern: color, layout, components, decoration, structural flow, and motion. It references core rules by number and never duplicates or renumbers them. Load it when the task builds or edits a website, web app, or any interface.

• Load together with

  antislop.md

  whenever the task is UI or visual work. The core holds the mechanism (the purpose test, the three tiers, the Delivery Gate); this skill holds UI-specific depth.
• Every entry has the same shape: Tell (the pattern), Why (why it reads as slop), Fix (what to do instead), with the governing core rule cited as R-XX.
• The Delivery Gate in the core remains the gate. The "UI Skill Checklist" at the end of this file is the UI-specific supplement to run alongside it.

• Tell: blue-to-purple, blue-to-cyan, or purple-to-pink gradients used as the primary color treatment, or a full-page colored glow.
• Why: the most over-represented color treatment in training data. It signals "no brand identity", not "our palette", and marks the design as AI-generated at a glance.
• Fix: pull the palette from

  DESIGN.md

  or the product's own identity. Keep a gradient only as a hierarchy function with the reason written down (R-01). A gradient separating one level from another is craft; the same gradient on every section is a default.

• Tell: blur/backdrop-filter on the navbar, cards, modals, and sidebar at the same time.
• Why: blur removes texture and sits every surface in the same frosted layer, flattening hierarchy. When every surface is glass, nothing is foreground.
• Fix: treat glass as an accent, not a character trait. Dose cap: at most 1-2 elements (R-10). The surface that needs the attention gets the glass; everything else stays solid.

• Tell: every element is pill-shaped: buttons, inputs, cards, badges, modals.
• Why: uniform pill shapes erase the visual language of "this is an input, this is a card". Radius becomes decoration instead of a hierarchy tool.
• Fix: set a small set of radii in the design system and apply them deliberately (R-11). One generous radius on the primary CTA reads as intentional; the same radius on every element reads as a default.

• Tell: every component carries a large shadow, so the whole page feels like it is floating.
• Why: when everything is elevated, elevation communicates nothing. The page loses its ground plane and becomes generic softness.
• Fix: use shadow as an elevation marker only, and write the elevation reason down (R-12). Most elements should sit flat; the one or two that need to lift above the page carry the shadow.

• Tell: glow on cards, buttons, icons, badges, backgrounds, and borders simultaneously.
• Why: glow is an attention amplifier. Applied everywhere it amplifies nothing, and it is one of the fastest ways to look "made by AI".
• Fix: reserve glow for a maximum of 1-2 important elements as a focus accent (R-13). Everything else stays matte.

• Tell: grid squares, blueprint lines, graph paper, or thin repeating lines behind content.
• Why: it is a default way to make a flat page feel "technical" without doing any real work. It reads as texture without intent.
• Fix: use texture or pattern only when it genuinely supports the product's identity, with the reason written down (R-07). A real identity motif (core Part 3) beats a stock grid every time.

• Tell: the whole page is dark simply because it looks "tech", with no branding consideration.
• Why: dark is a decision, not a default. Forcing it reads as following a trend, not serving the product.
• Fix: choose the theme from brand identity, product type, and audience (R-21). Developer and creative tools have legitimate reasons for dark; a content-first product usually does not. If there is no strong reason for a fixed theme, build a working light/dark toggle.

• Tell: 5-7 different colors on one page with no clear design system.
• Why: a scattered palette has no hierarchy. When every element can be any color, nothing is distinguished.
• Fix: cap the active palette at 2-3 core colors + 1 accent (R-29), and let one of the cores be the neutral base. Restraint is what makes the accent land.

• Tell: one accent color on buttons, icons, badges, links, lines, backgrounds, and glows at once.
• Why: the accent stops being an accent the moment it is everywhere. It becomes just another color, and the design loses its focal point.
• Fix: the accent belongs at the key moment only (one deliberate accent, core Part 3). Zero accents is sterile; an accent everywhere is slop. Choose the one or two places it matters.

• Tell: flat white or near-white, thin grey borders, small radius, no texture, generic font, no identity.
• Why: this is the "safe" result of over-filtering without direction. It is not slop, but it is not design either: it is a void where a design should be.
• Fix: this is a direction problem, not a filter problem. Add

  DESIGN.md

  or resolve the Design Read (core Part 3), then raise the liveliness dials. The fix is never more bans; it is state the purpose and add energy.

• Tell: hero, subtitle, 2 CTAs, screenshot, feature grid, testimonials, FAQ, CTA, footer, in that order, every time.
• Why: the order is the training-data default, not the product's narrative. Sections appear because the template has them, not because the content needs them.
• Fix: build the structure around actual content needs (R-05, C-3). If the product has no testimonials, there is no testimonials section. Section order follows the product's story. Match the RHYTHM dial: if it is 3, sections visibly vary.

• Tell: identical size, height, icon, layout, and padding across all feature cards.
• Why: uniform cards flatten the content. When every feature is a card with an icon, the features with real weight and the ones without look the same.
• Fix: create variation that reflects content hierarchy, with the reason written down (R-14). Not every feature needs to be a card. The flagship feature may deserve a full-width treatment, the supporting ones a list.

• Tell: padding, margin, and gaps are identical across every section.
• Why: rhythm is a tool, and a single spacing value removes it. Sections stop relating to each other; the page reads as one flat strip.
• Fix: use whitespace as structure (core Part 3) and vary it with the RHYTHM dial. Establish a spacing scale, then use different levels to separate and connect. Uniform rhythm is a deliberate choice only when the dial says so (R-05).

• Tell: round icon + number 1, 2, 3 + short text, always three steps, always the same shape.
• Why: the product's real process is rarely a tidy three-step list. The template forces the process into its shape, not the other way around.
• Fix: present the process as it actually is (R-05). Three steps with round icons is fine if that is genuinely the process; otherwise use whatever shape the real workflow takes, including two steps or five.

• Tell: a row of generic company logos directly below the hero.
• Why: it is a trust claim with no evidence: generic logos, no real customers named, no proof of use.
• Fix: only show real, verifiable logos (R-18, R-36, C-5). If the product has no such customers yet, do not fabricate a logo bar. Real social proof beats a generic one every time.

• Tell: the middle pricing tier always highlighted with a capsule badge.
• Why: it is the default pattern, which means it is not a decision. When every pricing section does it, the highlighted tier stops meaning anything.
• Fix: highlight the tier that actually serves the product's goals, and write why (R-31). If no tier deserves emphasis, highlight none.

• Tell: Product / Company / Resources / Legal columns with no variation.
• Why: the columns exist because templates have them, not because the site has that many link groups.
• Fix: structure the footer around what the product actually links to (R-05). A single column of links can be more useful than four half-empty ones.

• Tell: every section is centered title + subtitle + identical card grid, with no variation.
• Why: identical composition makes sections blur together, and the page feels repetitive and flat.
• Fix: vary composition with the RHYTHM dial (R-05). Alternate text-heavy and visual sections, asymmetric and symmetric layouts. A page where every section follows the same template is a page designed by a template.

• Tell: sparkle, star, magic, lightning, diamond, cube, robot, or AI orb as feature icons.
• Why: these glyphs are the generic vocabulary of "AI product". They communicate nothing about the specific feature.
• Fix: use icons genuinely relevant to the content, with the relevance written down when the glyph is generic (R-04). If no appropriate icon exists, use none. The feature label does the work.

• Tell:

  →

  or

  ↗

  placed on almost every button as pure decoration.
• Why: the arrow becomes a pattern, not a signal. When every CTA has one, none of them point anywhere specific.
• Fix: arrows are not the default identity for buttons (R-08). Keep them for the action that genuinely benefits from a direction cue, sized proportionally, with the purpose written down.

• Tell: pill shape, thin border, glow, small dot, uppercase, containing "AI Powered", "Beta", "New".
• Why: the capsule-plus-glow-plus-dot combination is a self-referential badge that says "made by AI, about being made by AI". It adds noise, not information.
• Fix: badges only when functionally needed, with the need written down, and never the full combination (R-09). A real status label is fine; a decorative "AI Powered" pill is not.

• Tell: large monospace headings, or uppercase labels with extreme letter-spacing ("HOW IT WORKS", "FEATURES").
• Why: monospace-as-aesthetic and wide-tracked uppercase are shorthand for "technical and modern" without doing any real typographic work.
• Fix: choose typeface from brand character, not the model's default pick, and write the reason (R-06). Typography must improve readability and reflect the product. A type choice with a reason beats a trend every time.

• Tell: Undraw, Storyset, or generic 3D blob characters with no real connection to the product.
• Why: decorative illustrations say the design is decorated, not designed. They fill space without serving the content.
• Fix: illustrations must have a direct connection to the product, with the connection written down (R-22). If none exists, use real screenshots or no illustration.

• Tell: navbar links to pages or sections that do not exist.
• Why: dead links are a broken promise. They break trust the moment a user clicks them.
• Fix: every navigation item must have a real destination (R-24). If a feature is not built, leave it out, or label it "Coming soon" clearly. The navbar reflects content that actually exists.

• Tell: buttons do nothing, dropdowns won't open, forms cannot submit.
• Why: the visual is finished but the behavior is not. This is the difference between a mockup and a product.
• Fix: every interactive element has real behavior, or it is removed (R-26). If an element genuinely cannot have a destination, ship a clear

  // TODO

  plus a visible "Coming soon" label, or do not ship it.

• Tell: a section exists because "every AI landing page has one", not because the content needs it.
• Why: template sections are content without purpose. They add length and remove focus.
• Fix: every section earns its place from the product's content (C-3). Remove sections that only fill a template. A page with fewer, purposeful sections is stronger than a page with all the defaults.

• Tell: elements that pulse, bounce, or float forever with no user trigger.
• Why: perpetual motion is noise. It competes with the content for attention and never stops to let the user rest.
• Fix: motion must have a clear UX purpose, written down (R-19). Animation guides attention to a moment; it does not run on a loop. If the MOTION dial is 1 (hover states only), an endless loop is a FAIL against the declared dial.

• Tell: every element uses Fade Up + Fade In + Floating + Scale + Bounce simultaneously.
• Why: a page where everything animates has no focal point. Motion becomes wallpaper.
• Fix: choreograph motion to a purpose and to the MOTION dial (R-19). Not everything moves. The hero speaks, the supporting elements stay calm. Claimed "cinematic" pages must actually move; claimed "static" pages must not.

• Is the palette derived from

  DESIGN.md

  or a written brand identity, not the default gradient set? (R-01, R-29)
• Is the accent used at the key moment only, not spread across every element? (core Part 3, one deliberate accent)
• Do section compositions vary according to the declared RHYTHM dial instead of repeating one template? (R-05)
• Does every navigation item and interactive element have a real destination or behavior, or a visible "Coming soon" label? (R-24, R-26)
• Does motion follow the declared MOTION dial and serve a written purpose, with no endless loops? (R-19)
• Is glass, glow, shadow, and radius used at their dose caps, not as a page-wide default? (R-10, R-11, R-12, R-13)
• Does the page hold up at every breakpoint, theme, and state, and pass keyboard-only use? (R-03, R-34, C-4)