Stop Asking AI to "Make It Look Better"

I know when a UI feels off. I do not always know what to call the problem.

So I ask the agent to “make it look better.” It shuffles the spacing, type, and layout. The screen looks different—but not necessarily better.

The problem is not the model. The prompt has no direction, no scope, and no definition of better.

The kind of generic output Impeccable’s rules are aimed at — purple gradients, template hierarchy. From impeccable.style/anti-patterns.

Give taste a vocabulary

Impeccable gives coding agents design expertise, named commands, and automated checks. These are the commands I reach for first:

• init scans the project and saves its users, goals, and constraints in PRODUCT.md.
• document records the existing colors, type, components, and rules in DESIGN.md.
• critique identifies what is holding a page back before anything changes.
• polish tightens alignment, spacing, and type rhythm on one named target.
• bolder gives a timid hero, CTA, or empty state more presence.
• adapt fixes the mobile version I should have tested earlier.

The command matters less than the boundary.

“Polish the app” invites a redesign. “Polish this table header” produces a diff I can understand, judge, and revert.

Context first. One target second.

My loop is simple:

1. Run init once to capture the product context.
2. Run document if the project already has a design system.
3. Name one surface: a form, nav, card grid, or landing section.
4. Choose the intent: critique, polish, bolder, or adapt.
5. Review the result and revert anything that feels borrowed.

Context keeps the agent from defaulting to the same generic SaaS aesthetic. Scope keeps its taste from spreading across the codebase.

Impeccable can also detect common AI patterns and quality problems in source files or a running page. The same checks can run while the agent edits or in CI. That makes “this feels generic” inspectable before it ships.

It still needs judgment. Impeccable does not know your brand better than you do, and it does not replace a designer on high-stakes work.

It does something smaller and more useful: it turns “make it better” into an instruction you can evaluate.

Try it

npx impeccable install

Then run /impeccable init, pick one component, and polish only that.

Resources

I’m not affiliated with Impeccable — I use it on my own projects.

• Impeccable
• Getting started
• Anti-patterns reference