libra/docs/ux-design.md

# UX / Design Reference — Libra Law Firm

Retrospective documentation of the design system as it is currently **built and live**. This
is not a proposal — it describes what shipped, so a dev/QA agent picking up a new task can match
existing patterns rather than invent new ones. Synthesized from `docs/brand.md`, epics 9/10/12/13/14/16,
and the root `CLAUDE.md`.

## Brand colors (current — source of truth: `docs/brand.md`)

The palette has changed twice since the original PRD. **Use the values below**, from `docs/brand.md`,
for any new work — they are the most recent and match what Epic 12 shipped.

| Token | Hex | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| Primary — Dark Forest Green | `#2D3624` | Header/footer backgrounds |
| CTA — Warm Gold | `#A68966` | Buttons, links, accents |
| Background — Warm Cream | `#F4F1EA` | Main page background |
| Text — Forest Green | `#2D322A` | Headings, body text |
| Card — Pure White | `#FFFFFF` | Card backgrounds |
| Active — Olive Green | `#4A5D23` | Active states, language toggle |
| Primary Light | `#3D4634` | Primary hover state |
| CTA Hover | `#8A7555` | Button hover state |
| CTA Light | `#C4A882` | Light accents |
| Active Hover | `#5A7030` | Active-state hover |
| Deep Black | `#1A1A1A` | Logo artwork, headline emphasis |

**History (do not use these for new work, they are superseded):**
- Epic 1 / PRD / Epic 9 originally specified **Navy Blue `#0A1F44` + Gold `#D4AF37`**.
- Epic 10 ("Brand Color Refresh") replaced that with **Charcoal `#4A4A42` + Warm Gray `#C9C4BA`**.
- Epic 12 ("Branding Refresh") replaced *that* with the **Dark Forest Green + Warm Gold** palette
  above, which is what `docs/brand.md` documents and what is currently live. Epic 9's own stories
  (button/form/card specs) still reference the original Navy+Gold hex values — treat those as
  structural/pattern guidance only (border-radius, padding, states) and substitute the current
  hex values from the table above.

## Typography

- **Arabic:** Cairo or Tajawal (Google Fonts), weights Light 300 / Regular 400 / SemiBold 600 / Bold 700.
- **English:** Montserrat or Lato, same weight set.
- `docs/brand.md` additionally suggests a serif (Playfair Display / Libre Baskerville) for the
  organization name/headline treatment and an italic serif for taglines, with a sans body
  (Source Sans Pro / Open Sans / Inter) — this is brand-identity guidance; the app itself
  implements the Cairo/Tajawal + Montserrat/Lato pairing from Epic 9.2.
- **Hierarchy:** H1 Bold 2.5rem/40px · H2 SemiBold 2rem/32px · H3 SemiBold 1.5rem/24px ·
  Body Regular 1rem/16px · Small Regular 0.875rem/14px.
- Line height: 1.6 body, 1.3 headings.
- `font-display: swap`, critical fonts preloaded, loaded via Google Fonts + Tailwind `font-family`
  config with `@font-face` fallbacks.

## Layout system

- Container max-width: **1200px**.
- Card padding: 24px; card border-radius: 8px; card shadow `0 2px 8px rgba(0,0,0,0.1)`, with a
  subtle lift + shadow increase on hover.
- Button padding 12px 24px, border-radius 6px; input/textarea padding 12px 16px, border-radius 6px,
  textarea min-height 120px.
- **Breakpoints:** Mobile `<576px` · Tablet `576–991px` · Desktop `992–1199px` · Large Desktop `>=1200px`.
  Mobile-first: single-column + collapsible sections on mobile, two-column/collapsible sidebar on
  tablet, full multi-column grid + sidebars on desktop. Touch targets >= 44px. Tables scroll
  horizontally on small screens; calendar and forms must remain usable on mobile.
- Transitions are short and subtle: button hover 150ms ease, card hover 200ms ease, modal
  open/close 200ms, all under 300ms — and must respect `prefers-reduced-motion` (no auto-playing
  animations).

## Component patterns (Epic 9 stories 9.4–9.7)

- **Buttons:** primary = CTA-gold background / dark text, hover to CTA-hover; secondary =
  transparent with gold border + gold text, hover fills gold with dark text; disabled = flat gray
  background/text, no hover, `cursor: not-allowed`; danger = solid red (`#E74C3C`) with white text.
  Loading state shows a spinner; all buttons have a visible focus state. Built by extending Flux UI's
  button component with Tailwind component classes.
- **Forms:** inputs/textareas/selects share consistent border + radius, gold border on focus;
  selects and checkboxes/radios are custom-styled (not native) with gold accents on
  checked/selected state; labels are SemiBold with a `*` required indicator; errors show a red
  border plus a message rendered directly below the field. Built on Flux UI form components with
  explicit RTL alignment handling.
- **Cards/containers:** off-white/cream background, optional gold top/left accent border for
  featured or important cards; dashboard stat cards add a gold-accented icon, a large number, and
  a trend indicator; list cards use consistent item spacing and clear click targets. Implemented as
  a reusable Blade card component with variant props.
- **Navigation/footer:** fixed-top nav, brand-primary background, logo left on desktop / centered
  on mobile, gold link text with an active-link indicator, styled language toggle, and a full-width
  slide/dropdown mobile menu (Alpine.js) with 44px+ touch targets. Footer shares the brand-primary
  background and carries logo + firm info, contact details, Terms/Privacy links, and copyright; it
  stays pinned to the bottom of short pages (sticky footer).

## Bilingual / RTL–LTR rules

- Arabic is primary and renders RTL; English is secondary, LTR. `dir="rtl"` is set on `<html>` for
  Arabic; layout uses Tailwind's RTL support and logical properties (`start`/`end` rather than
  `left`/`right`) so components flip automatically rather than needing per-direction overrides.
- In RTL: text aligns right, navigation mirrors (logo moves to the right), form labels sit on the
  right, directional icons/arrows flip, and margins/paddings swap sides.
- Switching language must not break layout — calendars and tables must render correctly in both
  directions, and every component is expected to be tested in both.
- All user-facing strings live in language files (`ar`/`en`); there is no hardcoded UI copy.

## Key page layouts

- **Home** (Epic 14): Navigation → Hero (tagline + intro + CTA buttons, Warm Cream background) →
  About (Huda Armouche's photo + bio) → Services (4 cards: Consultations, Representation,
  Litigation, Contracts) → Values (6 icon cards) → Latest Posts (3 most recent published posts,
  pulled live via `Post::where('status','published')->latest()->take(3)->get()`, with a "View All"
  link) → Footer (phone + address + links). Sections alternate between Warm Cream and White
  backgrounds; CTAs use Warm Gold.
- **About Us** (Epic 16, new page at `/about`): Navigation → Hero (title + identity statement) →
  Vision & Mission (three-fold: For Itself / For Society / For Diaspora, card layout) → Values
  (6 core values: Integrity, Justice, Knowledge, Women's Empowerment, Professionalism, Social
  Innovation) → Goals (7 goals, numbered/scannable) → Legal Services (grouped by category:
  consultations, litigation, family law, business services) → Footer. (A Scholarship Aspiration
  section was built under this epic but removed from `/about` entirely on 2026-01-11 at Naser's
  request — do not re-add without confirming; see `docs/tasks/16-6.md`.)
- **Auth pages** (Epic 13 — login, forgot/reset password, confirm-password, email verify): the
  2FA challenge page exists in code but is currently dormant — 2FA has been disabled in production
  since 2026-01-17 (see root `CLAUDE.md` Authentication section). Split-screen layout. Left panel: Dark Forest Green (`#2D3624`) background with the
  LIBRA logo centered. Right panel: Warm Cream background with a subtle SVG botanical/geometric
  background pattern (low-opacity brand colors) behind the form. On mobile, only the form side
  shows, with the logo displayed above it. The language toggle's `light` variant was darkened
  (`text-primary` instead of `text-body/70`) specifically for visibility on this light panel,
  without changing its appearance on the dark public-nav background.
- **Dashboards** (Epics 6 admin / 7 client): standard authenticated-app shell — nav/sidebar +
  content area using the same card, button, and table components as the rest of the app. Admin
  dashboard emphasizes stat cards, Chart.js analytics, and data tables with export actions; client
  dashboard is read-mostly (consultations, timelines, profile) with a single primary action
  (submit new booking) and a booking-limit indicator.

## Accessibility (WCAG AA — Epic 9.10)

- Color contrast: body text >= 4.5:1, large text (18px+ bold or 24px+ regular) >= 3:1, UI elements
  (buttons, borders, icons) >= 3:1. The gold-on-dark-forest-green and text-on-cream combinations
  must be verified against these ratios whenever a color changes.
- Focus indicators must be visible (a gold outline), never conveyed by color change alone.
- Full keyboard navigation: every interactive element reachable, logical tab order, a skip-to-main-content
  link.
- Screen readers: correct heading hierarchy (h1 > h2 > h3), alt text on all images, ARIA labels
  where needed, form labels programmatically associated with their fields.
- Motion: respect `prefers-reduced-motion`; no auto-playing animations.