Most designers skip this 3-letter UI check

There’s a simple framework I keep coming back to when reviewing designs. It’s not trendy or complicated—but it always works.

Typography. Layout. Color.

In that order.

If a UI feels “off,” 9 times out of 10, the root cause is a breakdown in one of these three areas. Not the style. Not the components. Just the basics.

Let me show you how powerful it can be with a simple example.

A quick before & after

I recently redesigned a basic modal. Same content. Same buttons. Nothing fancy. But the before version? It had issues.

On paper, it looked like a finished design. But it didn’t feel right.

Now compare that to the after version.

The changes were small—but the result was a modal that felt calmer, more polished, and more professional. You could even change the color to introduce hesitation and tip off the user that this is an important decision.

Why TLC works

Most designers skip past TLC and jump straight to style. They chase trendy gradients or fancy shadows—but neglect the structure holding everything together.

TLC fixes that.

That alone will clean up most designs. Because when your typography, layout, and color are dialed in, everything else starts to flow.

If you want help applying TLC across your work—and you want to build the kind of eye that spots these issues before they go live—I made something for you.

Get three free lessons from Shift Nudge right here → shiftnudge.com/free​