Usability, Accessibility and Developer Handoff

Usability heuristics

A few timeless rules catch most problems:

• Visibility of status – always show what's happening (loading, saved, error).
• Match the real world – use words and concepts users know.
• Consistency – the same action looks and behaves the same everywhere.
• Error prevention and recovery – stop mistakes, and make them easy to undo.

Accessibility (a11y)

Good design works for everyone, including people using screen readers or keyboards:

• Ensure sufficient colour contrast between text and background.
• Never rely on colour alone to convey meaning – add labels or icons.
• Label form fields and interactive elements; support keyboard navigation.
• Provide alt text for meaningful images.

Developer handoff

Deliver designs engineers can build faithfully: shared files (Figma) with specs (spacing, colours, fonts), exported assets, defined component states, and notes on interactions and edge cases (empty, loading, error). Good handoff prevents the "it looked different in the design" gap.

Key points

• Usability heuristics catch most common problems early.
• Accessibility (contrast, labels, keyboard, alt text) is essential, not optional.
• Never rely on colour alone to communicate.
• Clear specs, assets and states make developer handoff smooth.