Polish with evidence, not taste
Screenshots and measurements first, opinions after.
Oct 31, 2026 · 1 min read
On a redesign I was happy with, a second polish round still found menus clipped after changing the window height, and search placeholder text too faint in light mode.
Neither one shows up in a test, and I wouldn’t have spotted either one by reading code.
The habit
Polish is a review, so run it like one. Capture every state on desktop and phone, then separate real defects from taste. A control you can’t read is a defect, while wanting rounder corners is a preference.
A tool warning is a lead to check, not a verdict.
Try it
List the screens and states we need to inspect. Capture desktop and phone views. For each finding, show the evidence and what it does to a user. Keep confirmed defects separate from taste. Propose one small repair before editing, then recapture and check it.
Install it
ocd does this for you.