Create an Elevation Scale for Product-Wide Shadows

Shadow quality is not about one perfect value. It is about a stable system.

Minimal scale

• Elevation 1: subtle resting surfaces
• Elevation 2: interactive cards
• Elevation 3: popovers and floating blocks
• Elevation 4: dialogs and critical overlays

Implementation

Expose each level as a CSS variable and consume it in components instead of ad-hoc shadows.

Outcome

Users read hierarchy faster, and designers stop re-tuning each element manually.