Thalarch Compose UI

A Compose screen is both a rendered product surface and a stateful runtime system. Treat both as acceptance criteria.

1. Extract before inventing

Before redesigning an existing app, inspect:

• theme/color/typography tokens;
• reusable components;
• spacing/radius/divider patterns;
• navigation and top-level screen structure;
• dark/light/dynamic-color behavior;
• screenshots or supplied references;
• wording/localization conventions.

Use thalarch-design-system when the visual language is unclear or the redesign is substantial. Preserve stable product identity unless the user explicitly asks to change it.

2. Write a compact visual contract

For a meaningful redesign, establish:

• hierarchy;
• density;
• grouping;
• primary interaction;
• one distinctive product-native visual idea;
• responsive rules;
• accessibility constraints;
• explicit anti-patterns.

Do not implement a pile of independently styled cards and call it a design system.

3. State and recomposition discipline

Inspect:

• state ownership and hoisting;
• stable keys in lazy content;
• remember / rememberSaveable lifetime;
• derivedStateOf only when derivation cost/recomposition semantics justify it;
• effects and lifecycle ownership;
• expensive mapping/sorting/parsing inside composables;
• allocation-heavy objects created during frequent recomposition.

A visually correct screenshot does not prove state correctness or performance.

4. Interaction quality

Controls should expose their actual state clearly and behave consistently.

Check:

• enabled/disabled/read-only states;
• pressed/focused/selected feedback;
• slider/drag gesture precision;
• reset/default actions;
• destructive actions and confirmation where appropriate;
• scroll behavior and nested gestures;
• keyboard/input behavior when applicable.

Prefer platform/material primitives when they already express the interaction correctly. Custom components need a product or interaction reason, not novelty.

5. Accessibility

Verify, where relevant:

• touch targets of at least the platform-appropriate minimum (normally 48dp on Android);
• meaningful semantics/content descriptions;
• TalkBack order and labels;
• role/state/value semantics for sliders, toggles, tabs, and custom controls;
• contrast;
• font scaling;
• focusability;
• RTL mirroring and AutoMirrored icons.

Decorative assets should not create noisy accessibility output.

6. Adaptive layout

Test the actual surfaces the product supports:

• small phone;
• typical phone;
• large phone/tablet when relevant;
• portrait/landscape;
• edge-to-edge/insets;
• font scaling;
• navigation bars/cutouts.

Do not treat landscape as a wider screenshot of the portrait composition when the layout contract requires reflow.

7. Localization is part of layout

Combine with thalarch-localization when new or changed user-facing strings exist.

Design for:

• longer translated labels;
• plural/placeholder expansion;
• RTL;
• line wrapping/truncation;
• technical terms that should remain standard rather than be awkwardly literalized.

A default-English render is not proof that the screen works across supported locales.

8. Professional settings/product language

Settings should describe capability, state, and consequence—not advertise themselves unless the surface is genuinely a marketing/paywall surface.

Avoid invented prestige labels such as Premium Engine, Ultimate, Pro Processing, or similar marketing copy when they do not correspond to a real product tier or user-visible distinction. Prefer concise domain language such as Audio, Equalizer, Playback, Processing, or the project's established terminology.

9. Anti-template / anti-AI guardrails

Do not add by default:

• random glassmorphism;
• neon/purple glow;
• gradients without hierarchy purpose;
• cards inside cards inside cards;
• oversized rounded containers everywhere;
• decorative pills for ordinary labels;
• animation on every interaction;
• generic dashboard visual language inside a media/product screen.

Distinctive does not mean busy.

10. Motion

Use motion for continuity, state transition, or feedback. Keep it restrained and respect reduced motion where the platform/project supports it.

Never animate a frequently changing value in a way that creates unnecessary recomposition or input lag.

11. Rendered proof loop

For visually consequential changes:

1. inspect existing rendered UI when available;
2. implement the smallest coherent slice;
3. build;
4. launch on emulator/device;
5. capture/inspect the actual rendered screen;
6. test interaction and state changes;
7. inspect at least the required theme/viewport variants;
8. adjust from rendered evidence, not source optimism.

Source code is not visual proof. Preview-only output is weaker evidence than the runtime surface when runtime behavior is part of acceptance.

12. Completion

Report separately:

• source/build correctness;
• interaction/state evidence;
• accessibility checks;
• localization coverage;
• rendered/device evidence;
• any variants that remain UNVERIFIED.