Good products aren't coherent by accident.
Preserving their intent means following them through evolving requirements, edge cases, and implementation.
Making intent obvious
Users shouldn't have to guess what's interactive.
Hover states and conventions answer questions implicitly before users even have to ask.
Showing the path forward
Empty states, validation errors, 404s, server failures.
Users don’t mind things going wrong. Much.They do mind not knowing the path forward.
Communicating clearly
Waiting isn't the problem, uncertainty is. Good loading states acknowledge the user's time, communicate progress, and quietly disappear the moment they're no longer needed.
Supporting every user
Users shouldn't have to guess what's interactive.
Hover states and conventions answer questions implicitly before users even have to ask.