# Frontend Redesign Workflow

#### You:
i need a big redesign like layout and quality of life and just frontend stuff and i want to use claude  but i want to save tokens and usage so like should i ask claude max effort to plan it and then claude high effort to do it? and should i use opus or sonnet

#### ChatGPT:
Yes—your instinct (separating planning from implementation) is exactly how you save tokens *and* get better results.

Here’s a clean, efficient workflow that works really well for a big frontend redesign:

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## 🧠 1. Use “max effort” (Opus) for **planning only**

Use something like **Claude Opus + high effort** for:

- UI/UX redesign strategy
- Layout architecture
- Component breakdown
- Design system decisions (spacing, typography, colors)
- State management approach
- Routing structure
- Performance considerations
- Accessibility checklist

### Why:

Opus is strongest at:

- high-level reasoning
- coherent system design
- fewer structural mistakes

👉 This step should output:

- a **clear spec**
- NOT code (or minimal pseudo-code only)

---

## ⚙️ 2. Use “Sonnet” for **implementation**

Then switch to **Claude Sonnet (medium/high effort)** for:

- React/Vue/Svelte implementation
- component code
- styling (Tailwind/CSS modules/etc.)
- refactors
- incremental feature building

### Why:

Sonnet is:

- much cheaper
- very strong at frontend code
- faster iteration
- better for “fill in the details” work

---

## 💡 3. Best token-saving structure (important)

Instead of asking Claude to “build everything”, do this:

### Step A — Planning prompt (Opus)

Ask:

> “Design a full frontend redesign for X. Output only:
>
> 1. layout structure
> 2. component tree
> 3. design system rules
> 4. interaction behavior
>    Keep it concise and implementation-ready.”

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### Step B — Split implementation into chunks (Sonnet)

Then feed:

- “Build Layout component only”
- “Now build Sidebar with these specs”
- “Now build Dashboard grid”
- etc.

👉 This avoids huge multi-file dumps (token killer)

---

## 🧩 4. Extra token-saving tricks

- Don’t ask for full repo at once
- Avoid “refactor everything” prompts
- Reuse a stable design spec instead of re-explaining UI each time
- Ask for “diff-style changes” when iterating

---

## 🧠 Recommended setup summary

| Task                       | Model  | Effort      |
| -------------------------- | ------ | ----------- |
| UI system design           | Opus   | High        |
| Component architecture     | Opus   | High        |
| Writing full frontend code | Sonnet | Medium/High |
| Iterations & fixes         | Sonnet | Low/Medium  |

---

## 🚀 If you want a pro workflow

You can even do:

1. Opus → “design spec + component map”
2. Sonnet → “generate folder structure”
3. Sonnet → “build per component”
4. Sonnet → “refactor + polish pass”

---

If you want, tell me your stack (React, Next.js, etc.) and what you're redesigning—I can turn this into a **copy-paste Claude prompt pipeline** for you.
