362 lines
9.4 KiB
Markdown
362 lines
9.4 KiB
Markdown
# UI Audit — 2026-03-08
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## Scope
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This audit reviews the current Atlas for Mac frozen-MVP shell after the post-MVP polish and bilingual localization work.
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Audited surfaces:
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- `Overview`
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- `Smart Clean`
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- `Apps`
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- `History`
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- `Permissions`
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- `Settings`
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- `Task Center`
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- app shell navigation, toolbar, keyboard shortcuts, and shared design system
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## Audit Method
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The review combines:
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- current product IA and copy guidance
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- the shared SwiftUI design-system implementation
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- screen-by-screen source review
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- SwiftUI-focused UI guidance for hierarchy, keyboard flow, and accessibility
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Evidence anchors:
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- `Docs/IA.md`
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- `Docs/COPY_GUIDELINES.md`
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- `Packages/AtlasDesignSystem/Sources/AtlasDesignSystem/AtlasDesignSystem.swift`
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- `Apps/AtlasApp/Sources/AtlasApp/AppShellView.swift`
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- `Apps/AtlasApp/Sources/AtlasApp/AtlasAppCommands.swift`
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- feature screen implementations under `Packages/AtlasFeatures*/Sources/*`
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## Executive Summary
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Atlas for Mac has moved beyond MVP-shell quality and now reads as a real product. The UX is coherent, trust-aware, keyboard-aware, and bilingual. The strongest improvements are in information clarity, reversibility cues, and consistency of shared surfaces.
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The current gap is no longer “is this usable?” but “does this feel premium and native enough for a polished Mac utility?”
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### Current Assessment
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- Information architecture: `Strong`
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- Trust and safety framing: `Strong`
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- State coverage: `Strong`
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- Accessibility and keyboard support: `Strong`
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- Visual hierarchy depth: `Moderate`
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- Density and reading rhythm: `Moderate`
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- Secondary-surface polish: `Moderate`
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- Premium native feel: `Moderate`
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## What Is Working Well
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### Product Clarity
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- The app shell presents a stable frozen-MVP navigation model.
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- `Overview`, `Smart Clean`, and `Apps` now tell a coherent story rather than reading like disconnected feature demos.
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- Trust-sensitive actions are consistently framed as preview-first and recovery-aware.
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### Interaction Model
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- Main routes are keyboard reachable.
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- Core task triggers are available from both screen UI and command menus.
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- Task Center behaves like a real secondary control surface, not just a debug panel.
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### Accessibility and Localization Foundations
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- Shared UI primitives now expose meaningful accessibility labels and hints.
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- Stable identifiers make UI automation resilient even when visible text changes by language.
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- Chinese-first localization with English switching is now structurally correct, not just cosmetic.
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## Primary Issues
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### P0 — Highest Priority
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#### 1. Card Hierarchy Is Still Too Flat
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Most major pages rely on the same card weight and spacing rhythm. This keeps the product tidy, but it reduces scan efficiency because too many sections feel equally important.
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Impact:
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- Users need more effort to identify the single most important panel on a page.
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- High-signal guidance competes visually with secondary detail.
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Best-practice direction:
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- Establish one dominant “hero” block per screen.
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- Reduce visual competition among secondary sections.
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- Reserve stronger elevation/tone for the first action-worthy surface.
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Recommended changes:
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- `Overview`: promote the top health / reclaimable / next-step zone into a more dominant summary block.
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- `Smart Clean`: make the scan / execute area the unmistakable primary zone.
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- `Apps`: make uninstall preview or inventory summary visually dominant depending on state.
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#### 2. Reading Width Is Too Loose on Large Windows
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Pages currently stretch very comfortably, but on wide desktop windows the reading path becomes longer than necessary.
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Impact:
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- Long explanatory copy becomes harder to scan.
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- Secondary cards feel visually disconnected.
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Best-practice direction:
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- Introduce a content-width ceiling for main reading regions.
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- Let metric clusters stretch, but keep explanatory sections tighter.
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Recommended changes:
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- Add a constrained content container inside `AtlasScreen`.
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- Allow dense metric rows to use more width than narrative sections.
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#### 3. Smart Clean Still Feels Like Two Primary CTA Zones
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The `Run Scan` and `Execute Preview` actions are logically distinct, but visually they still compete for primary importance.
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Impact:
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- The next best action is not always instantly obvious.
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- The page feels more tool-like than guided.
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Best-practice direction:
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- Only one dominant primary action should exist at a time.
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- The primary CTA should depend on state:
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- no preview → `Run Scan`
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- actionable preview → `Execute Preview`
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Recommended changes:
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- Downgrade the non-primary action to bordered / secondary treatment in each state.
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- Keep `Refresh Preview` secondary at all times.
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#### 4. Settings Is Correct but Too Heavy
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The screen is comprehensive, but it reads as a long structured form rather than a calm preference center.
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Impact:
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- Lower discoverability of the most important controls.
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- Legal / trust text visually outweighs active preferences.
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Best-practice direction:
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- Split into clearer subsections or collapsible regions.
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- Keep active settings short and above long-form informational content.
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Recommended changes:
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- Separate into `General`, `Language`, `Trust`, and `Notices` visual groups.
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- Move long acknowledgement text behind expansion or a deeper detail view.
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### P1 — Important Next Improvements
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#### 5. Sidebar Density Is Slightly Too High for Daily Use
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The two-line route treatment helps onboarding, but the constant subtitle presence adds noise once the user already understands the product.
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Recommended changes:
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- Reduce subtitle prominence.
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- Consider showing subtitle only on selection, hover, or in onboarding mode.
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#### 6. Secondary Surfaces Trail the Primary Routes
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`Task Center` and some lower-priority sections now work well, but still feel more functional than premium.
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Recommended changes:
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- Tighten spacing and emphasis rules for popovers and secondary panels.
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- Add a stronger visual relationship between summary text and follow-up action.
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#### 7. Typography Scale Could Be More Intentional
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The type hierarchy is good, but still somewhat conservative for a desktop utility with a lot of summary-driven UX.
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Recommended changes:
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- Slightly enlarge the primary summary tier.
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- Slightly quiet secondary captions and helper text.
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- Keep a more visible difference between page title, section title, and row title.
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#### 8. Cross-Screen Density Rules Need One More Pass
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Some screens are comfortably airy, others slightly dense.
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Recommended changes:
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- Standardize vertical rhythm for:
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- card header to body spacing
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- row spacing inside cards
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- gap between stacked cards
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### P2 — Valuable but Not Immediate
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#### 9. Native Delight Layer
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The app is stable and clear, but not yet especially memorable.
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Potential upgrades:
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- more refined hover transitions
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- better selected-state polish in the sidebar
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- subtle page-entry choreography
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- richer system-native empty-state illustration language
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#### 10. Progressive Disclosure for Advanced Users
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Future polish can separate mainstream users from power users without expanding scope.
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Potential upgrades:
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- compact vs comfortable density mode
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- “advanced detail” toggles in `Smart Clean` and `Apps`
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- richer developer-specific explanations where relevant
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## Screen-by-Screen Notes
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### Overview
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Strengths:
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- Clear high-level summary
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- Good trust framing
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- Useful activity surface
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Main issue:
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- Too many blocks feel equally important
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Priority:
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- `P0`
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### Smart Clean
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Strengths:
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- Strong preview-first structure
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- Good risk grouping
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- Good recoverability language
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Main issue:
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- CTA hierarchy still needs stronger state-based dominance
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Priority:
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- `P0`
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### Apps
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Strengths:
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- Good trust framing for uninstall
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- Good leftover visibility
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- Good preview-before-execute structure
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Main issue:
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- Preview state and inventory state should diverge more visually
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Priority:
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- `P0`
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### History
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Strengths:
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- Good audit and recovery framing
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- Rows are readable and trustworthy
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Main issue:
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- Could feel more timeline-like and less card-list-like
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Priority:
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- `P1`
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### Permissions
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Strengths:
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- Limited-mode messaging is strong
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- Permission rationale now feels respectful and clear
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Main issue:
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- Still somewhat uniform visually; could use stronger “what to do now” emphasis
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Priority:
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- `P1`
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### Settings
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Strengths:
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- Good scope coverage
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- Language switching is correctly placed
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- Trust information is discoverable
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Main issue:
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- Too long and text-heavy for a premium settings surface
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Priority:
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- `P0`
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### Task Center
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Strengths:
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- Useful and keyboard friendly
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- Clear bridge into History
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Main issue:
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- Still visually closer to a utility panel than a polished product surface
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Priority:
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- `P1`
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## Recommended Execution Order
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### Wave 1
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- Reduce card hierarchy flatness
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- Introduce content-width ceiling
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- Make `Smart Clean` a single-primary-action screen per state
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- Reduce `Settings` reading burden
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### Wave 2
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- Refine sidebar density
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- Upgrade `Task Center` and other secondary surfaces
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- Tighten typography and spacing rules
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### Wave 3
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- Add native delight polish
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- Add advanced progressive disclosure where it improves clarity
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## Done When
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This UI audit is considered addressed when:
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- each major screen has an obvious primary focus region
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- each state has one clearly dominant next action
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- reading width feels intentionally controlled on large windows
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- `Settings` no longer feels like a long documentation page
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- secondary surfaces feel visually consistent with the main shell
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- the product feels recognizably “Mac-native polished,” not just “well-organized SwiftUI”
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