stack/agents/dewey/work/wui/DECISIONS.md

WUI decisions and discovery record

2026-09-08: Jason's branding answers

Confirmed product scope

Mosaic Stack is a flexible Swiss Army Knife / AI operating system, not a developer-only console. Uses include software factory, executive and personal assistance, writing, social media management, agent orchestration, human/agent collaboration through Matrix, Discord, Slack and similar channels, project management, and kanban. Extensions and plugins will broaden those uses.

The audience includes developers, enterprise users, homemakers, teens, students, professionals, and designers. The interface must not assume technical expertise. These are product intentions, not verified backend capabilities.

Identity and distribution

• Jason owns mosaicstack.dev, the intended main site.
• Codebase is intended to be open source, with OpenClaw and Hermes named as comparisons. No license decision was supplied here.
• A hosted offering is possible in the future, not a committed service.
• Explore creative logo/icon options. The chosen mark must be recognizable and work as a small icon and a full logo.
• No specific logo geometry is selected.

Color and customization

• Jason likes blue. Blue itself is not excluded; generic purple/blue gradient branding is unwanted.
• Yellow and green are less preferred, but acceptable as accents.
• Target ten user-selectable palettes shared conceptually across the site and apps. A user should be able to choose red rather than blue, for example.
• Palette changes must not fundamentally alter icons or page design.
• Each palette needs a color-theory rationale, not arbitrary hue substitutions.
• Support Light, Dim, and Dark for the palettes.
• Light with pale neutral surfaces and Dim with charcoal surfaces are accepted interpretations.
• Dark should retain color and visible depth. It need not be uniformly near black.
• Default mode was not specified.

Typography and references

• Prefer sans-serif fonts.
• https://t3.codes/ is a positive reference for theming and design choices.
• https://buzz.xyz/ is a positive reference for UI elements and onboarding wizards. Its yellow is not a preferred brand color.
• At intake, these were Jason's references, not Dewey's observations. Dewey subsequently inspected both public sites; RESEARCH.md records live evidence and application/onboarding limits.

Dewey's proposed design direction, not owner-approved

• Give the brand a recognizable silhouette that remains identifiable in one color. Do not make a particular palette its only identifying trait.
• Separate palette, appearance mode, and semantic status tokens. Keep control meanings and status labels stable across all combinations.
• Default candidate: a blue palette, following system Light/Dark preference with an explicit Dim option. Default remains provisional.
• Use progressive disclosure and adaptable workspaces so the same product supports a simple personal workflow and a dense professional workflow.
• Explore three logo families: assembled mosaic monogram, interlocking ribbon, and modular cut-paper symbol. Judge each in monochrome, at favicon size, and alongside the wordmark.
• Explore sans-serif samples rather than choosing a font from its name alone. Compare readable UI text, numerals, controls, and long labels.
• Explain palette hue relationships, surface tint, accent roles, and intended contrast. Color theory guides harmony; measured contrast and user testing establish usability. Do not claim universal emotional effects for a hue.
• First deliverable is a local interactive brand board with logo/type candidates and palette/mode controls, not any of the five dashboard layouts.

Discovery next work recorded at intake

1. Inspect the two reference sites if browser/network capabilities permit. Record any inspection limits honestly.
2. Produce brand studies and ten proposed palettes with explicit rationale and representative component states.
3. Verify small-size logo clarity, relevant contrast pairs, keyboard operation, and responsive rendering with available tools. Record gaps.
4. Jason selects/refines the brand before dashboard construction.
5. Research current docs/plans for a source-linked feature inventory before the five dashboard designs. Keep intended and implemented features distinct.

No logo, font family, exact palette, default mode, or dashboard design has been approved. No backend, publication, hosting, or integration work is authorized by these answers.

2026-09-08: review-ready brand board

• Entry: index.html. Review instructions: README.md. Tests and limits: VERIFY.md.
• Logo studies: Assembly, Relay, Aperture. Font choices: DM Sans, IBM Plex Sans, Manrope. Original outline icons share a 24-unit grid and 1.75-unit strokes.
• Palettes: Harbor, Carmine, Atlantic, Terracotta, Aubergine, Mineral, Cobalt, Rosewood, Graphite, Grove. Each has Light/Dim/Dark variants and an explicit hue-harmony rationale. Draft hue relationships were corrected before final verification.
• Dewey recommends Assembly + DM Sans + Harbor as the starting discussion, not an owner decision. Default appearance follows system Light/Dark preference; Dim is explicitly selectable. This behavior is still provisional.
• The preview uses local assets and browser storage, no API. Sample success/loading/error states and author download fixtures do not represent live product data or Jason's approval.
• All branding choices remain pending Jason's review. Dashboard construction and backend work have not started.

First owner feedback after review

• Jason said the icon looks like a "robot's crotch". Dewey interprets this as the recommended Assembly mark, whose two uprights and central notch produce that association. Jason did not name the concept explicitly. Do not treat Relay or Aperture as selected alternatives.
• Jason said the themes and Manrope font look great. Manrope is the preferred typography direction for the next revision. Preserve the palette work rather than redesigning it. No particular default palette or mode was selected.
• Next logo studies should avoid the paired-leg/central-notch silhouette. Explore assembled tile shapes and asymmetric negative space rather than another mechanical M.
• This is partial branding feedback, not full branding approval or authority to build the dashboards. No UI revision has been made in this feedback exchange.

Owner gate revision: design can proceed before final iconography

Jason clarified that unfinished iconography should not prevent design progress. This supersedes the earlier requirement to finish the whole brand before dashboard exploration.

• Use Manrope and retain the ten-palette Light/Dim/Dark system for the five dashboard designs.
• Final logo and iconography remain unresolved, but are not blockers. Use a Mosaic Stack text wordmark and provisional, labeled UI icons in the meantime.
• Prioritize the source-linked feature inventory, then five distinct navigable dashboard mockups and a central comparison page. Treat implemented, planned, and newly proposed backend capabilities separately.
• This does not authorize backend coding, integration, deployment, commits, or pushes. No new goal was activated during this clarification.