10 UI fixes I shipped in 10 days

I recently joined Mintlify as a part-time design engineer. Inspired by Cole Bemis, I started a daily thread sharing UI fixes and improvements that I was shipping. I also invited people to share any UI bugs they noticed.

People responded. I fixed things in near real-time. It was fun and I learned a lot.

Here are 10 UI details I improved over those 10 days.

Day 1: Fixed navigation layout shifts

Navigation items would shift slightly when hovering, creating a jarring visual effect. This might seem small, but layout shifts break the illusion of a polished interface. Every pixel counts when someone is navigating your docs.

I added gap-px between items and used text-shadow to prevent layout shifts on hover when the font-weight changes.

Day 2: Prevented number jank

Numbers in the UI that updated dynamically would cause layout shifts as digits changed width. When numbers update, the interface shouldn't jump around. This is especially noticeable in dashboards where users control an input.

I applied tabular-nums to use monospace number spacing.

Day 3: Made dropdowns feel natural

Dropdown animations looked the same regardless of where they opened from. Animations should reinforce the spatial relationship between elements. Origin-aware motion feels more natural and helps users understand what's happening.

I added origin-aware animations so dropdowns animate from their trigger point.

Day 4: Fixed input suffix/prefix clicks

Clicking on input prefixes or suffixes didn't focus the input field. Users had to select a specific part of the input field, which is not intuitive. If someone expects the entire input area to be clickable, it should be clickable. When only part of it responds, it feels broken.

I made suffix and prefix elements trigger focus on the input when clicked.

Day 5: Polished dashboard navigation

Hover states and interactions with labels and icons in the dashboard navigation were ever so slightly off. Inconsistent interactions like this make an interface feel unfinished or broken in a way that's hard to explain, but can be felt. Navigation should be precise.

I unified hover behavior and interaction states across navigation elements.

Days 6-7: Built a better date picker

The existing date range picker wasn't keyboard accessible and didn't provide enough visual hierarchy. Date pickers are deceptively complex. Keyboard accessibility means everyone can use it efficiently. Visual hierarchy helps users scan and select dates faster.

I built a custom date range picker that's fully keyboard accessible, updates labels based on selected months, and grays out weekend days for less visual emphasis.

Days 8-10: Buttons

Buttons.

Fixing things in real-time

The best part of this wasn't just shipping fixes, it was how fast we could respond to feedback.

Someone reported :focus and :focus-visible border issues in Firefox. I could immediately implement a fix.

When we were sent an example of how steps components and tab labels weren't aligning correctly, I put up PRs.

Without hearing directly from our users, I might not have noticed these issues for a while. Getting feedback from the people who use our product is my favorite way to improve it.

Why small fixes matter

None of these fixes were breaking the product. People could still use Mintlify with layout shifts and misaligned icons.

But polish matters. Small annoyances compound. They add up to an interface that feels unfinished.

Good UI is invisible. When everything works the way you expect, you don't notice it. You just get your work done and move on.

If you care about this level of detail, you should work with us.