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UI Creation Workflow

A systematic, agent-based approach to creating user interfaces that starts with understanding users and ends with validated, accessible designs.

Philosophy

Traditional UI development often jumps straight to visual design. This workflow enforces a disciplined journey:

flowchart LR
    classDef research fill:#1E3A5F,stroke:#0D47A1,color:#E3F2FD
    classDef design fill:#5D4037,stroke:#3E2723,color:#FFF8E1
    classDef validate fill:#B71C1C,stroke:#7F0000,color:#FFEBEE
    classDef complete fill:#1B5E20,stroke:#0D3D13,color:#E8F5E9

    U[UNDERSTAND]:::research
    D[DEFINE]:::research
    E[EXPLORE]:::research
    DE[DESIGN]:::design
    V[VALIDATE]:::validate
    R[REFINE]:::complete

    U --> D --> E --> DE --> V --> R

Each phase has: - A specialized agent with focused expertise - Clear inputs and outputs - Validation gates before proceeding - Artifacts that inform the next phase

The Six Phases

Phase Agent Focus Output
1. Understand Research Agent Who are the users? What do they need? Personas, JTBD statements
2. Define Strategy Agent What problem are we solving? Problem statement, success metrics
3. Explore Solution Agent How might we solve this? Solution concepts, user flows
4. Design UI Agent How do we express the solution? Component architecture, layouts
5. Validate Critique Agent Does this actually work? Accessibility audit, heuristic review
6. Refine Polish Agent How do we perfect the details? Final implementation

Why This Matters for AI Agents

AI agents can generate UI quickly—but speed without direction produces generic, disconnected interfaces. This workflow ensures:

  1. Context-awareness — Every design decision traces back to user needs
  2. Consistency — Shared understanding across agent handoffs
  3. Quality gates — Problems caught early, not in production
  4. Explainability — Every choice has documented rationale

Workflow Artifacts

Each phase produces artifacts that flow forward:

Phase Artifacts
UNDERSTAND Persona cards, JTBD statements, Context scenarios
DEFINE Problem statement, Success metrics, Constraints & requirements
EXPLORE Solution hypotheses, User flow diagrams, Information architecture
DESIGN Component inventory, Layout specifications, Interaction patterns
VALIDATE Accessibility audit, Heuristic evaluation, User flow verification
REFINE Visual polish, Micro-interactions, Final implementation

Getting Started

Phase Documentation

  1. Phase 1: Understanding Users
  2. Phase 2: Defining the Problem
  3. Phase 3: Exploring Solutions
  4. Phase 4: Designing the Interface
  5. Phase 5: Validating the Design
  6. Phase 6: Refining the Details

Agentic Workflow Reference

See It In Action

Run the interactive demo to see these patterns applied:

cd ui-design-demo
bun install
bun run dev
# Open http://localhost:5173

The demo includes examples for: - Dashboard — Analytics dashboard with progressive disclosure - Settings — User preferences with layered complexity - E-commerce — Product browsing with parallel paths - Data Table — Complex data with context-aware revelation