Rationale
No demographic targeting whatsoever. Metric prefixes, a staircase diagram, and scientific notation are presented as pure math reference material. No scenario, no analogy, no connection to college life. This is a textbook table with a visual layout upgrade. A 19-year-old female sonography student encounters the exact same presentation she would in any generic physics resource.
Fix
Ground each prefix in something relatable. Mega: "Your phone storage is measured in megabytes." Milli: "Your coffee is measured in milliliters." Micro: "A single strand of hair is about 70 micrometers wide." The table can stay, but each prefix needs a one-line anchor to real life. The In Ultrasound tab partially does this but only for four prefixes.
Citation
dashboard feedback "I would like them to be more geared towards female college students." design guide §1 "Examples and illustrations should reflect this demographic."
Rationale
The language is clear and simple. "A shorthand for very large or very small numbers" is good. "Think of the prefixes as a staircase" is approachable. The "Quick Rule" box at the bottom of Sci. Notation is clean and useful. Tone is supportive without being condescending. Loses a point because the Prefixes tab is an 11-row table with no easing; a beginner seeing Giga through Nano for the first time may feel overwhelmed.
Fix
Consider highlighting the 4-5 prefixes that matter for ultrasound and dimming the rest, with a note like "Focus on the highlighted ones. The others are here for reference." Reduces overwhelm while keeping the full table accessible.
Citation
design guide §1 "Reduce cognitive load at every step."
Rationale
A student with zero math background sees an 11-row table of Greek prefixes, symbols, and powers of 10 on the first tab. Then a staircase diagram with exponents. Then scientific notation with negative exponents. The material itself is inherently abstract, but nothing here introduces *why* the student should care before dumping the reference material. The concept ("numbers in science get very big and very small, so we use shortcuts") is buried: it's the intro sentence on the Prefixes tab and the "Why This Matters" box on the In Ultrasound tab. By then, a beginner has already been lost in the table.
Fix
Lead with the problem, not the table. Tab 1 should be: "In ultrasound, you'll work with numbers like 3,000,000 Hz and 0.000001 seconds. Writing those out every time is miserable. Metric prefixes are the shortcut: 3 MHz, 1 μs. That's what this card teaches." Then the table becomes the solution to a problem the student already understands.
Citation
acoustic-waves general "Sound exists as waves. That's a concept." The principle: introduce the big idea before listing components. Here the big idea is "numbers are unwieldy, prefixes fix that," and it should come first.
Rationale
Tabs: Prefixes → Staircase → Sci. Notation → In Ultrasound → Quiz. This deviates significantly from the required flow (Concept → Example → Visual → In Ultrasound → Quiz). There is no "Concept" tab; "Prefixes" is a reference table. "Staircase" functions as a visual, not an example. "Sci. Notation" is a second concept, not a graph. The card is really two topics merged into one (metric prefixes + scientific notation) with custom tab names. Whether this is acceptable depends on whether Jenny approved this structure as a special case.
Fix
If this card must cover both topics, consider splitting into two cards or restructuring tabs to: Concept (why we need shortcuts) → Prefixes (the table) → Staircase (visual) → Sci. Notation (second concept) → In Ultrasound → Quiz. At minimum, rename the first tab or add a concept tab before the table.
Citation
design guide §2 "Every card follows the same section flow: Cover → Concept → Example → Visual/Graph → In Ultrasound → Quiz → Self-Sort."
Rationale
There is no concept introduction. The card opens directly with a reference table. The concept (numbers in science are unwieldy; prefixes and scientific notation are the shortcuts) is never stated as its own idea. The student gets the solution before understanding the problem. This is the same structural failure as the acoustic-waves card: dictionary before concept.
Fix
Add a concept moment before the table. Even two sentences: "Ultrasound physics uses numbers that range from billions to billionths. Writing them out is impractical. Metric prefixes and scientific notation are the tools that make these numbers manageable." Then the table becomes a reference tool, not the entry point.
Citation
acoustic-waves general "This tab shouldn't be called concept if it's key terms. There should be an actual concept tab introducing sound waves." Same principle: concept first, then components.
Rationale
The staircase diagram is the strongest element on this card. It takes the flat table and gives it spatial logic: bigger steps up, smaller steps down. The decreasing bar widths reinforce the concept visually. The color gradient from green (large) to blue (small) is intuitive. The "Conversion Trick" box below anchors the directional logic. This is a good visual explanation. But it is entirely static. The student looks at it; they never interact with it.
Fix
Make the staircase interactive. Let the student click a step and see the conversion happen: click Mega, see "1,000,000" expand. Click Milli, see "0.001" appear. Or let them drag a number up and down the staircase and watch it convert. The spatial metaphor is strong; making it manipulable would make it stick.
Citation
design guide §6 "Prefer manipulation over observation. Students should drag, turn, push, pull."
Rationale
Better than the other cards' In Ultrasound tabs. "Prefixes You Will Use Constantly" ties Mega, Milli, Kilo, and Micro directly to ultrasound measurements with specific values (1.54 km/s, MHz, mm, μs). The SPI Exam Topic badge is present. The content is clinically relevant. Still deducting because: no interactive, no visual, and "Why This Matters" is a second text box that should be a dropdown. Two expanded text boxes on one screen is the same pattern Jenny flagged on comp-rarefaction.
Fix
Collapse "Why This Matters" into a dropdown. Replace or supplement the prefix list with an interactive: let the student type a raw number and see it auto-convert to the correct prefix format, or drag numbers onto the correct prefix bucket. The content is good; the delivery is passive.
Citation
compression-rarefaction feedback "Make these two text boxes... drop downs; over-explanatory text-heavy tab." design guide §6 "Prefer manipulation over observation."
Rationale
The card uses a green/teal system for the card-level accent, distinct from the red/blue of comp-rarefaction and the gold of acoustic-waves. The staircase uses a green-to-blue gradient that maps to large-to-small, which is visually logical. "Prefixes" is colored green on the Prefixes tab. Within this card, color usage is consistent. However, individual prefix terms (Mega, Milli, etc.) don't have their own dedicated colors, and the staircase colors don't clearly carry to the In Ultrasound tab. Deducting for cross-card traceability uncertainty.
Fix
Decide whether individual prefixes get dedicated colors (they probably don't need them, since they're reference terms not concepts). Register the card-level green accent in the master list. Ensure the four ultrasound-relevant prefixes (Mega, Milli, Kilo, Micro) use consistent styling wherever they appear on other cards.
Citation
design guide §3 "Every key term gets a dedicated color assigned once and used everywhere that term appears across all cards."
Rationale
The Prefixes tab is a table (Prefix, Symbol, Power, Meaning), not the required Term → Definition → Example format. The In Ultrasound tab's prefix descriptions ("Mega (M) for frequency: ultrasound operates in MHz") are closer to the right format but combine definition and example in one line rather than separating them. Scientific notation shows examples but no formal definitions.
Fix
For the four key ultrasound prefixes, add a structured definition somewhere on the card: Mega (M) / Definition: One million (10⁶) of the base unit. / Example: Your phone runs on a processor measured in megahertz. Keep definition and example visually separated.
Citation
design guide §5 "All term definitions follow this format: Term Name (colored, bolded), Definition: One sentence. Anchor words bolded. Example: One sentence connecting to something familiar."
Rationale
Prefix names and symbols are bolded in the In Ultrasound tab ("Mega (M)," "Milli (m)," etc.). In the Sci. Notation tab, "3 places left" and "2 places right" are colored green, which functions as emphasis on the testable conversion logic. But there's no clear identification of which words are the testable anchors. Is it the symbol? The power? The meaning? The conversion direction? The student doesn't know what to memorize.
Fix
Identify with Jenny which elements students get tested on. Likely: the symbol and the power (M = 10⁶, m = 10⁻³). Bold those specifically within definitions. For scientific notation, the "Quick Rule" box is the closest to anchor content; bold "big number" and "small number" or "left" and "right" as the recall triggers.
Citation
inverse-related feedback "For Frequency I would BOLD the word(s) HOW MANY... This way it really reinforces what is the most important thing to remember."
Rationale
Cannot evaluate from static screenshots. The core takeaway ("each step is a power of 10" or the Quick Rule) should animate on first view.
Fix
Verify in live card.
Citation
design guide §4 "Core takeaway phrase... colored and animated with a subtle bounce or shake on first view."
Rationale
The staircase uses green for "bigger" (up) and blue for "smaller" (down), with directional arrows on both sides. The Sci. Notation tab colors "3 places left" and "2 places right" in green. The Conversion Trick box uses bold on "to the right" and "to the left." The directional logic is present but doesn't strictly follow the rubric convention (warm/red for increase, cool/blue for decrease). The staircase uses green for up, not warm red. This may be a deliberate card-level choice since the card accent is green.
Fix
Consider whether the green-for-up / blue-for-down mapping on this card conflicts with the system-wide warm/cool convention. If the convention is absolute, the upward direction should trend warm. If it's flexible per card, document the exception.
Citation
design guide §4 "Warm color (red) for up/increase, cool color (blue) for down/decrease... applies anywhere directional language appears."
Rationale
Bold is used on prefix names/symbols ("Mega (M)," "Milli (m)") and on key conversion phrases ("to the right," "to the left"). No decorative bolding. No over-emphasis. Clean and intentional throughout.
Fix
None needed.
Citation
design guide §4 "Do not over-bold. Bold should feel intentional, not decorative."
Rationale
The base unit row shows a "–" character as the symbol. Need to verify whether this is an emdash, endash, or a hyphen/minus sign. If it's a minus sign to indicate "no symbol," it's fine. If it's an emdash, it violates the rule.
Fix
Verify the character. Replace with a proper minus sign or "—" notation only if it's been confirmed as an emdash.
Citation
design guide §3 "No emdashes anywhere."
Rationale
Zero interactivity on the entire card. Four tabs, all static. The student reads a table, looks at a staircase, reads examples, reads text boxes. Nothing to drag, turn, push, pull, type, or manipulate. Keith notes that a Jenny-approved interactive concept existed and was not implemented.
Fix
Implement the approved interactive (whatever it was; Keith should specify). Beyond that: the staircase is begging to be interactive. Let the student drag a number up and down the steps and watch it convert. Or type a raw number and see it placed on the correct step. Or drag prefix tiles to match with their powers. The Sci. Notation tab could let the student drag the decimal point and see the exponent change in real time. Every tab on this card has a natural interactive that was left on the table.
Citation
design guide §6 "Prefer manipulation over observation. Students should drag, turn, push, pull. Not just watch."
Rationale
No controls of any kind exist. Nothing to evaluate against the hierarchy.
Fix
Add direct manipulation controls. Draggable elements on the staircase, a movable decimal point for sci. notation, or a number input that auto-converts. Avoid slider bars as primary control.
Citation
design guide §6 "Seesaw/knob/draggable model > slider bar > static graph."
Rationale
No sensory feedback. Admittedly, metric prefixes are less naturally auditory than sound wave cards. But a subtle click or scale-change sound when moving between prefix levels on the staircase could reinforce the "each step is 10x" concept.
Fix
Low priority relative to other cards, but if the staircase becomes interactive, add a rising/falling tone as the student moves up/down the steps to reinforce directionality.
Citation
design guide §6 "Sound and sensory feedback where possible."
Rationale
No interactives exist. The staircase, sci. notation decimal movement, and prefix matching are all highly interactive-compatible concepts. The absence is especially notable given that a Jenny-approved interactive was ready and was not built.
Fix
Build the approved interactive. Then evaluate whether additional interactives are justified for the remaining tabs.
Citation
rubric v2 §E4 "Interactive clearly improves understanding of the concept." The corollary: when an obvious, client-approved interactive is omitted, the criterion is failed.
Rationale
The staircase diagram is code-rendered but functions as a data visualization rather than a scene-setting illustration. It's closer to a chart than programmer art; the stepped bars with labels and gradient coloring are a legitimate visual representation of the prefix hierarchy. This is different from drawing a slinky as vertical lines. However, there are no real illustrations anywhere: no scene-setting imagery, no relatable visual, no photos. The card is entirely tables, diagrams, and text.
Fix
The staircase can stay as code (it's functional UI, not a scene). But add a scene-setting illustration to the Prefixes or Staircase tab: an illustrated measuring tape, a phone storage icon, or a visual showing the scale from galaxy to atom. Something that gives the abstract concept a physical anchor.
Citation
design guide §6b "The distinction is between things the student manipulates (code) and things that set the scene (real assets)."
Rationale
In Ultrasound tab is pure text. No ultrasound imagery. The content mentions MHz, mm, km/s, and μs in ultrasound context, which is good, but there's no visual showing what these measurements look like in practice. No transducer, no waveform with labeled units, no scan image with measurements annotated.
Fix
Add an annotated ultrasound visual: a simple scan image or waveform diagram with prefix-labeled measurements pointing to real elements. "This frequency is 5 MHz." "This wavelength is 0.3 mm." Show the prefixes in their natural habitat.
Citation
rubric v2 §F2 "Ultrasound-related visuals should resemble real practice."
Rationale
No placeholder frames for missing illustrations. The card doesn't acknowledge that real visual assets are needed. Unlike the comp-rarefaction card (which had a labeled transducer placeholder), this card presents its current state as if complete.
Fix
Add dashed placeholder frames where scene-setting illustrations and medical visuals should go. At minimum: one on the Prefixes or Staircase tab for a relatable illustration, one on the In Ultrasound tab for an annotated medical visual.
Citation
design guide §6b "When an illustration is not yet available, use a clearly marked dashed placeholder frame with a description of what goes there."
Rationale
No animations or motion on this card. Pacing criterion doesn't apply in the same way. The tab sequence does progress from simple (table) to more complex (staircase → notation → ultrasound application), which is correct conceptual pacing.
Fix
None for pacing. If interactives are added, ensure they follow slow-before-fast.
Citation
design guide §7 "Always show the slow, simple version of a visualization first."
Rationale
No animations to evaluate.
Fix
N/A.
Citation
design guide §7
Rationale
Prefixes tab: a table, not paragraphs. Clean. Staircase tab: short intro sentence + visual + conversion trick box. Good density. Sci. Notation tab: intro sentence + two examples + quick rule. Concise. In Ultrasound tab: two text boxes both expanded. The "Why This Matters" box has 3 sentences and should be a dropdown. Overall, text economy is better than the other cards, with one exception.
Fix
Collapse "Why This Matters" on the In Ultrasound tab into a dropdown.
Citation
design guide §8 "Collapse secondary explanations into dropdowns."
Rationale
The Staircase tab shows well: the visual does the teaching, text is supplementary. The Sci. Notation tab shows reasonably (examples demonstrate the concept). But the Prefixes tab is a pure table (tell) and the In Ultrasound tab is pure text (tell). Two of four tabs rely on reading rather than seeing.
Fix
Prefixes tab: add an illustration showing scale (galaxy to atom) alongside the table. In Ultrasound: add an annotated visual showing prefixes in clinical context.
Citation
design guide §8 "Placeholders for images/visuals are better than paragraphs of explanation."
Rationale
Scoring this under pacing since it's specific to this card: the 11-row prefix table is a lot for a first encounter. The staircase helps by making it spatial, but the first tab hit is still a wall of 11 rows. The In Ultrasound tab correctly narrows to the 4 that matter. The card needs to signal earlier which prefixes are essential vs. reference.
Fix
On the Prefixes tab, highlight or visually distinguish the 4 ultrasound-relevant prefixes (Mega, Kilo, Milli, Micro). Dim or separate the rest. "Focus on the green rows. The others are here when you need them."
Citation
design guide §1 "Reduce cognitive load at every step."
Rationale
Better than the other cards. The table is compact. The staircase fills its container well without excessive padding. Sci. Notation boxes are right-sized. The In Ultrasound tab has some loose space below the "Why This Matters" box but is tighter than the other cards' equivalent tabs. Overall, this card uses space more efficiently.
Fix
Minor tightening on In Ultrasound tab. Otherwise acceptable.
Citation
design guide §9 "Tighten whitespace. Card interiors should feel compact and purposeful."
Rationale
Each tab has a clear progression: title/intro → content → bridge button. The staircase diagram creates a strong visual center. The Sci. Notation tab separates the two examples and the quick rule cleanly. The base unit row is highlighted in the table and staircase, creating an anchor point. Professional and readable.
Fix
None major. Adding interactives would strengthen the hierarchy by giving each tab a focal point beyond text and tables.
Citation
design guide §9 "Clear visual hierarchy: concept > explanation > example > interactive."
Rationale
Same issue as other cards: the In Ultrasound sub-headers ("Prefixes You Will Use Constantly," "Why This Matters") appear to use the brush title font. These should use Tomarik Poster (all caps) for sub-section headers. Card title "Metric Prefixes" correctly uses the brush font.
Fix
Tomarik Brush for card title only. Tomarik Poster (all caps) for sub-section headers. DM Sans for body.
Citation
design guide §11 "Titles: Tomarik Brush. Subtitles: Tomarik Poster (all caps)."
Rationale
Green "SPI EXAM TOPIC" badge visible at top of the In Ultrasound tab. Clear, visible, consistent with the card's color system. This is the first card in the trial set that actually implements the SPI flag. Well done.
Fix
None needed. Use this as the reference implementation for SPI flagging across all cards.
Citation
design guide §10 "When a concept aligns with the ARDMS SPI content outline, flag it visually."
Rationale
The badge says "SPI EXAM TOPIC." The design guide specifies the tone should be "This is important for the registry" without guaranteeing it appears on the exam. "EXAM TOPIC" implies it will be on the exam. That's a guarantee the rubric explicitly prohibits.
Fix
Change wording to "SPI Registry Topic" or "Important for the Registry" or "SPI Content Area." Remove the word "Exam" to avoid implying a specific exam question. Guidance, not promise.
Citation
design guide §10 "Tone: 'This is important for the registry' without guaranteeing it appears on the exam. Should feel like guidance, not pressure."