---
target: backend/templates (web UI)
total_score: 26
max_score: 40
na_heuristics: 
p0_count: 1
p1_count: 0
timestamp: 2026-07-26T17-08-41Z
slug: backend-templates-app-html
---
Method: dual-agent (A: a67675dd3039e8156 · B: aa64e48aafb9db799), regression independently re-verified live

## Design Health Score

| # | Heuristic | Score | Key Issue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Visibility of System Status | 3 | htmx dimming/error-inline verified live and working |
| 2 | Match System/Real World | 4 | "Continue reading," "Updated," site names all read naturally |
| 3 | User Control and Freedom | 3 | Cancel works; no undo after delete (acceptable, single-user tool) |
| 4 | Consistency and Standards | 2 | Disclosure-toggle pattern consistent; bare-emoji icons vs. tuned typography mismatch |
| 5 | Error Prevention | 2 | Chapter input still has no max, hint is prose-only |
| 6 | Recognition Rather Than Recall | 2 | The hint meant to aid recall is what causes the overflow bug |
| 7 | Flexibility and Efficiency | 3 | Search, tabs, direct Continue link present |
| 8 | Aesthetic/Minimalist Design | 2 | Clean tokens undercut by a live horizontal-scroll bug and flat no-cover placeholder |
| 9 | Error Recovery | 3 | "No connection - try again" verified firing on network abort |
| 10 | Help and Documentation | 2 | No help affordance beyond hover tooltips |

Total: 26/40 - Acceptable band. Trend: 21 -> 26.

## Design Specificity Verdict
Real measured progress: site-tinted badges and --new ribbon hue verified via computed contrast (5.3-9.0:1), genuine product-specific signal. Working against it: bare OS-emoji icons (star/pencil/trash/play) clash with tuned typography; no-cover placeholder still a flat contentless box.

Deterministic scan: CLI 0 findings (clean). Live detector: overused-font/single-font expected (deliberate single-typeface Operate surface). flat-type-hierarchy already accepted. monotonous-spacing and text-occlusion confirmed FALSE POSITIVES (detector's own accumulated debug overlays). edge-flush-cards on Continue-reading strip likely false positive (deliberate scrollable carousel with edge-bleed). ai-color-palette flagging new site-tint hues - plausible false positive (contrast-verified, restrained) but unconfirmed.

## Priority Issues
P0 - Chapter-edit form causes 97-127px horizontal page overflow on mobile, Save button pushed off-screen. .chapter-form has display:flex with no wrap, now holds 3 children (hint/input/button) in one unwrapped row. Confirmed live at 390px and 360px. Regression from the harden command - hint text was verified to render but never checked for container overflow at mobile width. Fix: flex-wrap:wrap + .hint{flex:1 0 100%}, same pattern already used in .actions/.confirm-row.
P3 - Icon-glyph inconsistency: bare emoji vs tuned type/color system.
P3 - No-cover placeholder reads as stuck loading skeleton, not designed empty state.
P3 - .confirm-row text wraps awkwardly ("Remove/this?") - cosmetic only, no overflow.

## Persona Red Flags
Casey (mobile, primary): chapter-form overflow directly hits her core task (one-handed chapter correction), unexpected sideways scroll needed.
Sam (accessibility): well-served overall, but no custom :focus-visible on icon/action buttons.

## Minor Observations
Continue-reading strip still not tab-scoped. updated_at ordering verified live via actual favourite-toggle round-trip. ai-color-palette on site tints worth a second glance, unconfirmed either way.

## Questions to Consider
1. Did the harden command's verification ever check mobile viewport width with the hint text present, or only that it rendered?
2. Is the emoji-icon look deliberate "undesigned" for a single-user tool, or just expedient?
3. Is a missing og:image common enough in practice to deserve real empty-state design?