Improvements list — worked examples

Consumed by stardust:direct Phase 2.5 (Mode A only). The contract, specificity bar, and stopping condition live in SKILL.md § Phase 2.5; this file carries the worked examples that calibrate item specificity.

The five categories, with examples

1. Dated patterns the design world has moved past. Specific: "centered hero with stock photo + double CTA in primary blue is the SaaS template circa 2019" — not "the hero feels dated."
2. Cluttered IA, unclear hierarchy, weak CTAs, redundant sections. E.g. "home page has 4 different donor CTAs, each with a different verb (DONATE / GIVE / SUPPORT / CONTRIBUTE), fragmenting the conversion funnel."
3. Contrast failures, accessibility gaps, density issues. Pull from brand-review.html Tensions when present (T-color-imbalance, T-img-alt-empty, etc.). E.g. "Primary CTA #008192 on white passes AA at 4.6:1 but the same teal on light-grey card surfaces drops to 3.1:1 — fails AA on those instances."
4. Cliché conventions the brand could move past while staying recognisably itself. E.g. "All headings render uppercase via CSS — the brand voice survives mixed-case headlines, and mixed-case reads as more current without changing identity."
5. Missed opportunities the existing site doesn't capitalise on. E.g. "The captured photography of named program participants is excellent but the home page renders all 6 portraits as 280×180 thumbnails in a slick-slider; the photographs support full-bleed editorial treatment that would carry the trust signal far more effectively."

Format example

Markdown, with a _provenance frontmatter block per the artifact-map convention. Each item is a numbered list entry with a category tag, a weakness statement, and a one-line fix:

<!--
_provenance:
  writtenBy: stardust:direct
  writtenAt: 2026-04-29T11:00:00Z
  readArtifacts:
    - stardust/current/_brand-extraction.json
    - stardust/current/brand-review.html
    - stardust/current/pages/<slug>.json
  stardustVersion: 0.10.x
-->

# Improvements — <slug>

1. **[dated-pattern]** Centered hero with double CTA pair (DONATE +
   LEARN MORE) is the 2019 nonprofit-template silhouette.
   *Fix:* Replace with a left-anchored editorial composition; one
   primary CTA, one secondary text-link.

2. **[ia-clutter]** 4 distinct donor verbs across the home page
   (DONATE, GIVE, SUPPORT, CONTRIBUTE) fragment the funnel.
   *Fix:* Pick one canonical verb (DONATE, per the CTA frequency
   table); other instances become secondary "see all ways to give"
   links.

3. **[contrast]** Brand teal on light-grey card surfaces resolves to
   3.1:1 — fails WCAG AA. (See `T-color-imbalance` in brand-review.)
   *Fix:* Reserve teal for white-ground only; use deepened teal
   (#005a68) on grey surfaces.

4. **[cliché]** All headings render uppercase via CSS, including
   long-form section openers ("OFFICIAL FOUR STAR CHARITY"). The
   shout reads as urgency at first heading and as fatigue by the
   third.
   *Fix:* Mixed-case for headings ≥3 words; preserve uppercase only
   for short imperative CTAs and eyebrow labels.

5. **[missed-opportunity]** Six named-participant portraits render
   as 280×180 thumbnails in a slick-slider; the captured source
   supports editorial-scale treatment.
   *Fix:* Replace carousel with a 3-column grid; portraits at 4:5
   aspect, 1:1 minimum 480px wide.