designxdevelop/agent-skills/ui-text-audit

UI Text Audit

Goal

Find and remove every piece of user-facing text that does not help the user make a decision or complete a task. Leave text that carries genuinely new information. The result is fewer words per screen, faster scanning, and no loss of usability.

When to Use

Use this skill when the user:

• Asks to audit, review, or tighten UI text across a project.
• Says screens feel verbose, wordy, or cluttered with copy.
• Wants redundant labels, filler descriptions, or unnecessary subheadings removed.
• Asks to "trim the copy", "clean up the UI text", or "cut the noise".

Example prompts:

Audit every screen for unnecessary text and remove it.

The UI is too wordy. Cut anything that doesn't help the user.

Review all the labels and descriptions — trim what's redundant.

Workflow

1. Inventory screens

Identify every user-facing screen, page, modal, drawer, and multi-step flow in the project. List them so nothing is missed.

2. Scan each screen against the pattern catalog

For every screen, check for each pattern below. Collect candidates — do not edit yet.

Pattern catalog

3. Validate candidates

For each candidate, ask: does removing this text make it harder for the user to complete the task?

• If no → confirmed for removal.
• If yes → discard the candidate. Leave the text.

Never remove:

• Progress indicators when the heading does not already convey progress.
• Error messages and validation hints.
• Accessibility labels (aria-label, sr-only text, alt text).
• Text that provides genuinely new information the user needs to act.

4. Apply changes

For each confirmed removal:

1. Remove the text from the component.
2. Remove any CSS rules, classes, or styled-component blocks that only styled the removed element.
3. Remove unused imports introduced by the deletion.
4. If a disclaimer was removed and no confirm step exists, add a confirm step.

5. Verify the build

Run the project's build/lint/type-check command after all changes. Fix any breakage before moving on.

6. Report

Produce a summary table:

Group by screen. Include the pattern number so the user can cross-reference the catalog.

Guardrails

• Never remove error messages, validation hints, or accessibility labels.
• Never remove text that provides information the user cannot infer from the surrounding UI.
• Never remove progress indicators unless the heading already conveys the same progress information.
• Never guess whether a section can have multiple items — check the data source or ask.
• Never restructure component hierarchy, reorder elements, or change behavior — only remove text and its dedicated styling.
• Never introduce new copy. This skill removes; it does not rewrite (exception: merging a heading + subheading into one line, or shortening a button label).
• Always verify the build passes after changes. Do not leave broken imports or dead CSS.
• Report every removal so the user can review and revert if needed.

Completion Checklist

• [ ] Every user-facing screen, modal, drawer, and flow step was scanned.
• [ ] Each removal maps to a pattern in the catalog.
• [ ] No error messages, validation hints, or accessibility labels were removed.
• [ ] Removed CSS/imports that only served deleted elements.
• [ ] Build/lint/type-check passes with no new errors.
• [ ] Summary table delivered listing every change by screen and pattern.