UX Audit

Run a structured usability review based on Steve Krug's Don't Make Me Think. Use it to inspect page structure, copy, navigation, and interaction friction before or alongside design review.

When to Use

• UI를 만들기 전에 화면의 목적과 품질 기준을 먼저 못 박아야 할 때
• Before a design review or frontend handoff
• When users report confusion but the failure mode is still unclear
• When navigation, headings, or calls to action feel noisy or ambiguous
• During UI quality sweeps after major layout or copy changes

When NOT to Use

Audit Modes

Choose the depth of review based on what you need:

Design Contract — Before Building

Before implementation starts, write a short contract for the screen so the later audit has something concrete to enforce.

Capture only three things:

1. Purpose — one sentence for what this screen is for
2. Primary action — the one action that must win attention first
3. Forbidden defaults/patterns — shortcuts the screen is not allowed to fall back to

Keep it short:

## Design Contract: [screen]

- Purpose: [one sentence]
- Primary action: [the main CTA or task]
- Forbidden defaults:
  - [generic welcome copy / dashboard filler / placeholder layout / competing CTAs / etc.]

Use the existing audit checks as the contract's enforcement points:

• Trunk Test / Page Area Test verify that purpose is obvious
• 3-Second Scan verifies that the primary action wins quickly
• Happy Talk Detection verifies that forbidden generic copy did not creep back in

The 6 Usability Checks

Run all six checks in sequence. A page with repeated failures across these categories needs structural revision, not copy-only cleanup.

1. Trunk Test

"If I dropped you in the middle of this page with no context, where are you?"

Check:

• Site or product identity is visible quickly
• A page-level heading makes the purpose obvious
• Navigation exists and is easy to locate
• Current location is indicated with active nav or breadcrumbs

2. 3-Second Scan

"What does this page do?"

Check:

• The primary action or value proposition is visible without hunting
• Heading hierarchy is scannable
• One primary call to action clearly wins attention

3. Page Area Test

"Can you tell what each part of this page is for?"

Check:

• Major regions such as header, main content, sidebar, and footer are distinct
• Headings introduce real content instead of stacking without explanation
• Section purpose is clear before reading full paragraphs

4. Happy Talk Detection

"Is the page making me read obvious or low-value copy?"

Look for:

• Generic welcome copy that says little
• Repetitive marketing filler above the real action
• Links or buttons with vague labels like Click here or Learn more

5. Mindless Choice Audit

"Does every click require extra thought?"

Check:

• Links describe destinations clearly
• Form fields use real labels, not placeholder-only hints
• Options are named so users can choose quickly

6. Goodwill Reservoir

"Is the page wasting the user's time or patience?"

Check:

• Body text is comfortably readable
• Errors explain how to recover
• Media or overlays do not interrupt the task unexpectedly

Hard Fail Signals

Escalate findings when any of these appear:

• Placeholder text used as the only field label
• Missing, generic, or low-signal primary heading
• Floating headings with no supporting content
• Visited and unvisited links are visually indistinguishable
• Body text is too small to read comfortably

Suggested Workflow

0. Before building, write the Design Contract: purpose, primary action, forbidden defaults/patterns.
1. Choose your audit mode: Quick Scan (6 checks, default) or Deep Audit (15 dimensions) — see Audit Modes table above.
2. Inspect the live page or rendered component
3. Record evidence for each check (Quick Scan) or each dimension (Deep Audit)
4. Mark each check/dimension as pass, concern, or fail
5. Separate structural issues from copy polish
6. Prioritize fixes that reduce confusion on the main user path

If runtime inspection is needed, pair this skill with browser-devtools.

Output Format — Quick Scan

Default to a short human-readable report:

## UX Audit: [page or component]

- **Trunk Test**: Pass | Concern | Fail - [reason]
- **3-Second Scan**: Pass | Concern | Fail - [reason]
- **Page Area Test**: Pass | Concern | Fail - [reason]
- **Happy Talk**: Pass | Concern | Fail - [reason]
- **Mindless Choice**: Pass | Concern | Fail - [reason]
- **Goodwill Reservoir**: Pass | Concern | Fail - [reason]

**Hard Fail Signals**
- [issue or "None"]

**Top Fixes**
1. [highest-priority change]
2. [next change]
3. [next change]

If another workflow needs structured output, you may additionally emit JSON, but human-readable findings remain the primary deliverable.

For Deep Audit output, see the Phased Plan Output template in the Deep Audit section below.

Finish Gate

Do not accept vague self-congratulation as a design decision. Terms like "clean," "modern," "intuitive," or "premium" are non-answers unless they resolve into specific choices visible on the screen.

Reject the screen if its copy and layout feel generic enough that they could be bolted onto a completely unrelated product without anyone noticing. Passing requires product-specific purpose, language, and emphasis — not interchangeable SaaS wallpaper.

Tips

• Judge the page from a first-visit perspective, not from implementation knowledge
• Prefer concrete evidence ("two CTAs compete above the fold") over taste-based critique
• Fix structural confusion before refining tone or visual polish
• Re-run the audit after major IA, copy, or navigation changes

Deep Audit — Jobs/Ive 15 Dimensions

Use for major redesigns, premium quality assessment, or when the quick scan surfaces systemic issues. Review every screen across all 15 dimensions before writing any recommendations.

The 15 Dimensions

Jobs Filter — Apply to Every Element

For each screen element, ask:

1. "Would a user need to be told this exists?" → If yes, redesign until obvious
2. "Can this be removed without losing meaning?" → If yes, remove it
3. "Does this feel inevitable, like no other design was possible?" → If no, it is not done
4. "Is this detail as refined as the details users will never see?" → The back of the fence must be painted too

The test: Remove until it breaks. Then add back the last thing.

Phased Plan Output

After completing all 15 dimensions, compile a phased plan before making any changes:

DEEP AUDIT RESULTS:

Overall Assessment: [1–2 sentences on current state]

PHASE 1 — Critical (hierarchy, usability, responsiveness issues that actively hurt UX)
- [Screen/Component]: [what's wrong] → [what it should be] → [why this matters]

PHASE 2 — Refinement (spacing, typography, color, alignment that elevate quality)
- [Screen/Component]: [what's wrong] → [what it should be] → [why this matters]

PHASE 3 — Polish (micro-interactions, empty/loading/error states, dark mode, subtle details)
- [Screen/Component]: [what's wrong] → [what it should be] → [why this matters]

DESIGN SYSTEM UPDATES:
- [New tokens, colors, spacing, or component changes required]

Do not implement until the plan is approved. Execute phase by phase, presenting results before advancing.

Scope Discipline

Deep audit covers visual design, layout, spacing, typography, color, interaction, motion, and accessibility. It does not touch application logic, state management, API calls, or feature behavior. If a design improvement would require a functional change, flag it rather than implementing it.

If the audit surfaces a control that is broken, dead, or behaves incorrectly, record it as a UX-impacting finding but hand off functional verification to e2e-testing. ux-audit diagnoses quality and clarity of the experience; it does not become the functional debugging workflow.

See Also

• browser-devtools — inspect runtime DOM, network, and accessibility state
• e2e-testing — automate critical user journeys after the UX issues are understood