UI/UX refinement pass

# UI/UX refinement pass

Iterative design pass across the teacher and student experience, driven by Sonnet with human review on each proposed change.

## Problem

The platform has grown feature-by-feature. Visual hierarchy, spacing consistency, and copy tone have drifted. Several surfaces feel "engineering-built" rather than designed. Pilot feedback from UA and Washington consistently mentions visual polish as the gap between Yawp and competing tools.

## Goals (rough)

- Pass through each major surface (document editor, submissions page, my-classes dashboard, student dashboard) and propose targeted refinements.
- Each proposed change goes through review before merge — no batch changes without sign-off.
- Apply consistently with platform principles below.

## Principles (hard rules)

- **No AI branding.** No "AI", no sparkle icons, no "Powered by..." framing. Yawp uses AI heavily under the hood; users see a calm writing tool.
- **Match existing patterns.** Ghost buttons, muted backgrounds, restrained accent color use. Don't introduce new patterns; refine existing ones.
- **Information hierarchy over decoration.** If a heading is hard to find, fix the typography, not the borders.
- **Mobile-responsive on student-facing surfaces.** Teacher tools have more latitude.
- **Calm, focused tool feel.** Education product, not consumer SaaS. No animations that draw attention away from the writing.

## Open questions

- [ ] Scope: full sweep or surface-by-surface across multiple sprints?
- [ ] Who owns review on each change — Bryant, Kevin, or both?
- [ ] Any third-party design input, or fully in-house?

## Engineering handoff

Not ready. Needs scoping decision and review process before any changes ship.