DM
Frontend Mastery

Base Layer

The evidence-backed standards for world-class web applications. Codified from 137 award-winning sources.

T0 Foundation

Next.js App Router

18

Default web app and website implementation target for Dhiraj projects.

package
T0 Foundation

React

17

Component-driven web UI and agent-generated reusable components.

package
T0 Foundation

TypeScript

14

Every reusable component API and agent-generated interface.

package
T0 Foundation

Tailwind CSS

20

Default styling system for speed, tokens, and component portability.

package
T0 Foundation

Radix/shadcn-style Primitives

20

Accessible dialogs, sheets, tabs, tooltips, popovers, and form surfaces.

package
T0 Foundation

Motion (formerly Framer Motion)

25

React UI animations, gestures, layout transitions, and simple entry/exit effects.

package
T0 Foundation

Performance Budgets (CWV)

22

Establishing thresholds for JS bundle size, LCP (<2.5s), and INP (<200ms).

design principle
T0 Foundation

2025 Standard Breakpoints

19

Defining layout tiers: 480px (Mobile), 768px (Tablet), 1024px (Laptop), 1280px (Desktop), 1536px (Ultra-Wide).

design principle
T0 Foundation

Sidebar / App Shell Nav

24

Complex SaaS products and admin dashboards with 6+ primary sections.

component
T0 Foundation

Skeleton Loading (Shimmer)

18

Preventing layout shift during async data fetching (Suspense).

component
T0 Foundation

WCAG 2.2 Compliance

25

Every project, specifically focusing on focus-visible, keyboard nav, and ARIA landmarks.

design principle
T0 Foundation

Fluid Typography Scale

18

Responsive layouts requiring robust, mathematical type scaling.

design principle
T1 Premium Standard

SaaS Information Density

15

Pro-tools, dashboards, and data-heavy SaaS products (Linear/Stripe style).

product ux_principle
T1 Premium Standard

Command Palette (Cmd+K)

14

High-performance pro-tools and complex dashboards.

component
T0 Foundation

Dark/Light Theme Persistence

20

Cookie-based persistence for pure RSC/App Router; next-themes for simple abstraction.

design principle
T0 Foundation

Performance Font Loading

18

next/font for automatic self-hosting, size-adjust, and variable font support.

design principle
T1 Premium Standard

Tremor Raw

16

Production dashboards requiring full control over charts and KPI cards.

package
T1 Premium Standard

Page / View Transitions

15

Shared Element Transitions (e.g., card-to-hero) in Next.js 15.

motion pattern
T1 Premium Standard

Composition Over Configuration

12

Building production-ready components that need to be customized beyond simple props.

design principle
T0 Foundation

GSAP + ScrollTrigger

30

ScrollTrigger work, SVG/path motion, complex timelines, creative websites, advanced text reveals.

package
T1 Premium Standard

Better-Auth

15

Open-source, self-hosted or serverless native auth for 2025.

package
T1 Premium Standard

Drizzle ORM

14

Performance-first, serverless-native data access.

package
T1 Premium Standard

Lenis

15

Creative/marketing pages where scroll is a major narrative surface.

package
T1 Premium Standard

Three.js + React Three Fiber

21

Memorable 3D product scenes, portfolio/brand microsites, WebGL interactions.

package
T0 Foundation

React Hook Form + Zod

12

All non-trivial forms, settings, onboarding, signup, and checkout flows.

package
T1 Premium Standard

Figma

9

Visual exploration, tokens, flows, and critique before coding.

tool
T0 Foundation

Canonical Base Component Set

18

Every Dhiraj web app/site starter.

component set
T0 Foundation

Navigation/Header

13

All apps/sites as the primary orientation surface.

component
T0 Foundation

Hero Section

15

Landing pages, product intros, portfolios, app onboarding pages.

component
T1 Premium Standard

Bento/Grid Feature System

11

Feature overviews, product capabilities, portfolio proof, dashboard summaries.

component
T0 Foundation

Accessible Form System

13

Auth, onboarding, settings, checkout, contact, and workflow inputs.

component
T0 Foundation

Dialog/Sheet

14

Confirmations, settings panels, creation flows, mobile side panels.

component
T0 Foundation

Toast/Feedback

12

Non-blocking success, undo, save, sync, and background feedback.

component
T0 Foundation

Tooltip/Popover

12

Icon labels, lightweight contextual help, and small supplemental details.

component
T0 Foundation

Loading/Empty/Error States

14

Every data-driven component and async workflow.

component
T0 Foundation

Footer

10

Secondary navigation, legal links, contact, social proof, and persistent site metadata.

component
T1 Premium Standard

Dhiraj Header Text Reveal

11

Short hero headlines, section titles, major route entrances.

motion pattern
T0 Foundation

Scroll Reveal

17

Section entrance, progressive disclosure, visual hierarchy.

motion pattern
T1 Premium Standard

Sticky/Pinned Sections

10

Narrative feature sections, side-by-side product explanations, stacked cards.

motion pattern
T1 Premium Standard

Card Hover Depth

10

Cards, bento tiles, clickable previews.

motion pattern
T0 Foundation

Modal/Sheet Transition

12

Dialog/sheet open and close states.

motion pattern
T1 Premium Standard

Dhiraj Smooth Scroll

9

Creative/marketing pages where scroll feel is part of the brand experience.

motion pattern
T0 Foundation

Reduced Motion Support

17

Every animated component.

motion guardrail
T0 Foundation

State Completeness

16

Every component spec and implementation.

design principle
T0 Foundation

Motion Tokens

13

Every Dhiraj motion spec.

design principle
T0 Foundation

Choose DOM, SVG, Canvas, or WebGL Deliberately

13

Every non-trivial animation decision.

design principle
T0 Foundation

Real Product UX Over Award-Site Theater

12

Every final component and page decision.

design principle
T1 Premium Standard

Dhiraj Signature Layer

9

Hero copy, section rhythm, scroll feel, toast behavior, and motion defaults.

design principle
T1 Premium Standard

Competence Feedback

8

Learning, fitness, creation, habit, onboarding, and progress-based products.

product ux_principle
T1 Premium Standard

SVG Motion

9

Logo, icon, path drawing, morphing, masks, data-viz accents.

motion pattern
T1 Premium Standard

Cinematic GLSL Shaders

12

Brand-defining scenes, premium product moments, interactive portfolio work, adding cinematic textures.

motion pattern
T2 Taste Layer

3D-to-2D Morphing

5

Seamlessly transitioning from immersive 3D intro to functional UI.

pattern
T2 Taste Layer

Depth Map Parallax

5

Adding 3D-like depth to static hero images without 3D models.

pattern
T0 Foundation

Product/SaaS Design Principles

20

Building dashboards, SaaS interfaces, and pro-tools.

design principle
T1 Premium Standard

Marquee / Logo Ticker

10

Social proof strips, logo clouds, announcement banners.

component
T0 Foundation

Skeleton Shimmer

15

Loading states for cards, lists, and content blocks.

component
Anti-pattern

Animation Everywhere

-8

Never.

anti pattern
Anti-pattern

Heavy Scroll Hijacking

-7

Never as a base default.

anti pattern
T1 Premium Standard

Spring Physics Configuration

14

Standardizing tactile feel. Snap: {300, 30}, Bouncy: {200, 10}, Natural: {100, 30}.

motion standard
T2 Taste Layer

Magnetic Interaction Logic

10

Buttons, bento tiles, and hero CTAs that deserve higher engagement.

motion pattern
T2 Taste Layer

Interactive Shader Standards

12

Brand-defining WebGL surfaces with mouse-reactive ripple/distortion.

motion pattern
T1 Premium Standard

Surface Depth Ladder

15

Creating depth via background hex tiers: Base (#08), Raised (#0F), Overlay (#16).

design principle
T2 Taste Layer

Interactive 3D Card Tilt

11

Featured bento blocks, promo grids, or single-product display cards.

motion pattern
T1 Premium Standard

Cursor Spotlight Hover

13

SaaS card grids, bento sections, or primary form layouts.

motion pattern
T1 Premium Standard

Sliding Indicator Segmented Tabs

15

Sub-navigation bars, settings tabs, toggle controls, or filter buttons.

motion pattern
T1 Premium Standard

Spring-Loaded Drag Drawer

14

Mobile layout page drawers, interactive actions, or settings dialog overlays.

motion pattern
T2 Taste Layer

Before-After Image Comparison

9

Portfolio showcases, designer before/after mockups, or cosmetic comparisons.

component pattern
T0 Foundation

Accessible Accordion

15

FAQ sections, collapsible sidebar submenus, or dense form detail sections.

component pattern