Design reference catalog
Graveyard
Every design variant explored across 9 rounds. Kept as reference — not part of the real product shell. Promoted variants feeding the real app are marked with a Promoted badge.
Round 1 · Initial aesthetic sweep
Three distinct visual directions before any UX experiments landed.
Round 2 · Feature explorations
Five distinct directions each testing a specific adaptive feature.

D · Refined C
Light/dark toggle, regular-weight stem, progress dots, show-all-explanations expand.
2 screenshots

E · Notebook
Warm serif without drop-cap or decorative quote.
2 screenshots

F · Smart Highlighter
Trick-word detection (EXCEPT/MOST/LEAST/etc.) with toggle + pulse.
2 screenshots

G · Topic Drill
Branching "Go Deeper" panel on wrong: same-topic drill of 5, AI-gen stub, primer.
2 screenshots

H · Exam Sim
Timed session with deferred feedback + end-of-session results + calibration.
3 screenshots
Round 2 refinements + J mechanic lab
Refinements of H/G/F applying round-1 feedback, plus the narrow-down mechanic lab and the Modes Hub.
PromotedI · H refined — primary winner
Mock Exam flow, hydration fixed, new explanation block, side-journey from flagged items.
3 screenshots

J · Narrow-Down Lab
4 elimination mechanics tabbed side-by-side: strike / cycle / keyboard / bucket.
4 screenshots
PromotedK · Topic Drill (G refined)
Dark mode fixed + side-journey drill model + permanent Go Deeper panel.
4 screenshots

L · Trick-word refined (F)
Toggle off by default, pulse on detected word, distractor explanations fixed.
3 screenshots
PromotedM · Modes Hub + Quick Practice
Theme picker + 4-mode grid + feature flags; working Quick Practice at /design/m/quick.
3 screenshots
Round 4 · Two starting-page iterations
Starting pages in Design I and Design M themes.
Round 5 · Mode-click flow variants
5 distinct approaches to the post-click mode expansion.

P · Popover
Floating popover anchored to clicked tile; tail arrow.
3 screenshots

Q · Full-canvas swap
Grid ↔ mode config; crossfade + mode-strip for fast switching.
3 screenshots

R · Side drawer
Drawer slides from right; grid clickable above backdrop.
3 screenshots

S · In-card morph
Card morphs to form at same size; zero sibling movement.
3 screenshots

T · Command palette
⌘K-style overlay with arrow keys + filter + Enter launches.
3 screenshots
Round 6 · Q refined with topic selector
Q-based with Design I countdowns, inline per-mode flags, chapter + NYS tabs.
Round 6.5 · Layout refinements
Three spatial layouts eliminating dead space vs U’s layout.
Round 7 · W and X with selector alternatives
3 chapter/NYS selector approaches × 2 layouts. Screenshots missing (agent hit usage limit before capture).
- (no screenshot)Promoted
W1 · Horiz band + grouped accordion
Full-size tiles, full-width options; 7 chapter groups with Select-all per group.
- (no screenshot)
W2 · Horiz band + search+list
Live-filter search; dense list rows with inline descriptions.
- (no screenshot)
W3 · Horiz band + visual chip grid
Compact chips with big numerals; hover reveals detail card.
- (no screenshot)
X1 · Punchy rail + grouped accordion
Editorial rail titles; chapters in 7 collapsible groups.
- (no screenshot)
X2 · Punchy rail + search+list
Editorial rail titles; search-filtered dense chapter list.
- (no screenshot)
X3 · Punchy rail + visual chip grid
Editorial rail titles; chip grid + hover detail card.
Round 8 · Nav bar options
Two nav chrome directions for the authed shell. Option 2 was promoted into the real app layout.
Round 9 · /home module-nav directions
Five directions for the post-login module-nav page. Hc "Focus Hero" was promoted to the real /home.

Ha · Paper Dossier
Horizontal list with Roman numerals, hairline separators, right rail countdown stack.
2 screenshots

Hb · Grid Dashboard
Welcome strip with inline countdowns, 1/2/3-col responsive grid, stats footer with trend delta.
2 screenshots
PromotedHc · Focus Hero (promoted to /home)
Dominant 460px hero with embedded countdown + CTA; compact secondary row below.
2 screenshots

Hd · Dark Terminal
Electric teal accent, ticking clock, glowing streak numeral, `/exec` mono taglines, kbd chips.
2 screenshots

He · Editorial Spread
EMT Quarterly masthead, Fraunces + terracotta, stats as "Fig. I/II/III", editorial numerals on sections.
2 screenshots









