ui-feedback

Use skeleton screens for page-level or section-level initial loads taking 1-3 seconds, since they preview the layout. Use spinners only for small isolated zones like buttons or dropdowns. Never place a full-page spinner over a blank page.

Match the pattern to urgency: toasts for transient low-stakes confirmations, banners for persistent contextual states like trial expiration, and modals only for critical blocking actions like permanent deletion. Badges handle ambient counts.

Use an undo toast for reversible actions like archiving, since it saves a click and provides a safety net. Reserve confirmation modals for irreversible, cascading, or financially significant actions, with typed confirmation for catastrophic cases.

Use optimistic UI when success rates exceed 99% and the cost of being wrong is low, such as toggling a status. Avoid it for financial transactions, destructive actions, or permission changes, and always revert with an error toast on server rejection.

Toasts auto-dismiss and sit far from the problem, forcing users to hunt for the error. Place validation errors inline directly below the affected field, and scroll to the first error on submit while preserving all user input.