Interfaces that survive contact with engineering: designed in systems, specified in tokens, tested with real users, and shipped to production rather than to a slide deck.
This is the same screen at every stage of the work. Watch what changes and, more importantly, what does not: the structure is settled at wireframe, so polish is a resolution pass, not a redesign.
fig. 01 · wireframe · same grid, same hierarchy, same screen
Tokens and core components on one page, measured like an engineering drawing. Nothing below is a mood board: every value ships as a Figma variable and a CSS token, and this sheet is set in the same system as the page you are reading.
Hard-coded hex values do not pass review. If a colour, size, or spacing is not a token, it does not enter the system, which is how the drift figure stays at zero.
Iteration is the method, not a failure of it. Every engagement runs structured rounds: a heuristic pass, usability sessions with real users, then an accessibility scan. Each round leaves its annotations on the wall.
The first pass argues with heuristics, not opinions. Every zone is checked against its cognitive budget before anyone debates a colour.
Five to eight real users work the prototype while we watch. What they stumble on gets rebuilt; what they ignore gets removed.
The scan runs with screen readers and keyboards, not just a browser plugin. Issues are ranked, and the top fixes ship as mockups, not memos.
The wall is shared with your team round by round. Nothing is unveiled; everything is argued while it is still cheap to change.
Inherited an interface that fights its users? An audit runs two to three weeks at a fixed price scoped up front, and it measures rather than opines: real users in session, a heuristic review, and an accessibility scan, returned as work engineering can start.
Watched working the product, not surveyed about it.
A fixed price, scoped before we start.
Tested by users on screen readers, not just axe DevTools.
A ranked issue list with the mockups attached.
Sequenced so engineering can start on Monday.
The deliverable is a ranked issue list, the top ten fixes mocked, and a 90 day roadmap.
Handoff is where most design dies: exported PDFs, guessed paddings, a build that drifts a little further every sprint. Ours is engineered so there is nothing left to translate.
Colour, type, and spacing leave Figma as variables and arrive in code as CSS tokens. One source of truth, zero transcription.
Every component ships with a working Storybook story beside its Figma frame, so review compares running code, not screenshots.
Designers and engineers share the same channel, the same tickets, and the same sprints. Questions get answered before they become drift.
The engagement ends when the interface is in production and your team can extend the system without us.
Zero “it looks different in production.” Because production is where the design was headed all along.
Agentic coding tools changed who can ship an app. A working product now takes a weekend, and it arrives wearing the same face as every other app shipped that weekend. Functional is no longer the bar. Distinct is.
If your product was built fast and looks it, that is not a failure. It is a starting point: the makeover is a scoped engagement like any other, and the system it leaves behind is one the next prompt cannot undo.
What teams ask before they hand us their product surface.
Design systems by default. Every engagement produces atomic components (Radix or shadcn-based), token definitions (colors, spacing, typography), Figma libraries, and Storybook documentation. Your team can extend the system long after BearPlex exits the engagement.
WCAG 2.1 AA as a floor, not a ceiling. Streaming text needs screen-reader-friendly rendering. Model confidence indicators need non-color redundancy. Tool-calling UIs need keyboard navigation. Every BearPlex design ships with accessibility tested by actual users on screen readers, not just axe DevTools.
Both by default. Mobile-first for consumer AI. Desktop-first for enterprise AI tooling (CTOs don't configure RAG pipelines on their phones). Responsive doesn't mean identical. We design distinct affordances for each context.
Figma with dev-ready components, auto-generated CSS tokens, and live component specs via Figma Dev Mode. We deliver working Storybook alongside Figma. Zero 'it looks different in production' because designers and engineers work in the same Slack channel, the same ticket system, and the same sprint cadence.
Yes. Audit engagements are 2-3 weeks: usability testing with 5-8 real users, heuristic review, accessibility scan, design system health check. Deliverable: ranked list of issues, mockups of the top 10 fixes, and a 90-day improvement roadmap, at a fixed price scoped up front.
The best interfaces look obvious in hindsight. Bring us the screen your team keeps arguing about; we will design the system that settles it, test it with real users, and hand engineering something they can build without guessing.
