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Context: this sub-skill is one lens of the broader ui-craft skill. If the ui-craft skill is also installed, read its SKILL.md first for Discovery + Anti-Slop + Craft Test, then apply the specific lens below.
Redesign $ARGUMENTS. Load the ui-craft skill and read references/craft-intent.md. A redesign is not a greenfield build wearing the old content — most of its value is in what you deliberately keep.
Step 1 — Audit what exists (before any opinion):
- Run the detector on the current source (
npx ui-craft-detect <path>) or live page (npx ui-craft-detect <url>) and note findings.
- Inventory: pages/routes, section order, heading hierarchy (h1–h3), nav structure, conversion paths (CTAs and where they lead), forms, imagery assets, fonts, color values actually in use.
- Read
.ui-craft/brief.md if present — prior constraints still bind.
Step 2 — Classify what to preserve. Wrong-to-change unless the user explicitly asks:
- Brand equity — logo, name, an established palette the business already uses in the wild. Committed brand color stays; you may re-tune tints/shades into a proper token scale.
- IA + SEO — URLs/routes, page set, heading semantics, title/meta, alt text, structured data. A redesign that tanks organic traffic is a failure regardless of how it looks.
- Content + voice — existing copy is data about the business. Restructure freely; rewrite voice only with permission.
- Conversion paths — every CTA and form that exists today exists for a reason. Relocate, restyle, but never silently drop one.
Step 3 — Pick the scope and say it out loud:
| Scope | What changes | When |
|---|
| Refresh | Tokens only: type scale, spacing rhythm, radii, shadows, color tuning | Site is structurally fine, looks dated |
| Reskin | Visual layer + component styling; layout skeleton and section order stay | Bones are good, skin is generic or old |
| Rebuild | Layout and composition too; content, IA, and brand carry over | Layout itself is the problem |
Default to the smallest scope that fixes the stated complaint. For rebuild, print a short before/after section map and get a nod before writing code.
Step 4 — Declare the Craft Read (surface kind, audience, theme, DESIGN_VARIANCE, signature bet) per references/craft-intent.md. Redesigns default to variance 4–5: the brand is already committed, so spend boldness on typography and composition, not on a new identity.
Step 5 — Modernize with levers, in this order: typography (scale + pairing per references/typography.md) → spacing rhythm → color tokens (references/color.md) → imagery treatment → motion (entrance/hover only where focal). Fix every detector finding from Step 1 along the way.
Never: invent a new brand palette over a committed one, drop routes or pages, flatten heading semantics for looks, rewrite copy voice unasked, or ship the redesign with more detector findings than the original had.
Output: edit code directly (refresh/reskin) or section map first (rebuild). Print the Review Format table, the detector before/after counts, and end with the Craft Read line.
Next step: /critique — check the modernized surface against hierarchy and anti-slop before shipping (rung 1).