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No.278 · Feedback· New

Wayfinder 404

A missing location and a working compass: choose a familiar destination, watch the needle turn, and take the direct link there.

The prompt

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The design brief behind this component — reuse it to regenerate, remix, or explain it.

Build a useful interactive 404 as a destination-finding instrument on deep blue-green (#111e25). Set a large serif heading and concise recovery copy on the left, with an always-available home anchor. On the right draw a round compass in CSS: thin concentric rim, evenly spaced ticks, N/E/S/W labels, a pale mint needle and a central 404 / NO FIX badge. Under it, a radio group contains Home and caller-supplied destination labels. Selection rotates the needle by an equal fraction of a turn per destination, highlights its button and updates a separate Go to [destination] anchor plus a polite direction-set status. Support arrow keys and Home/End with roving focus. No drag puzzle, automatic navigation or global shortcuts. On small screens stack copy and dial, retaining direct destination controls. Reduced motion changes the angle immediately. Use normal anchors, unique IDs and independent state per instance. Implementation requirements: Use React and TypeScript. Keep the component self-contained, with uniquely scoped CSS and no animation libraries. Include required imports, styles and font setup in the result. Interaction: In Vitrine and the usage example, activating a recovery link is simulated locally and never changes page. In a consumer application, caller-supplied anchors remain usable. Choose a destination by click or arrow/Home/End keys, then activate its link. Home is always available. Motion: Needle rotates over 550ms expo-out; reduced motion updates immediately. Accessibility: Semantic headings and native links/buttons, visible focus, decorative geometry hidden from assistive technology. Independent instances; honour reduced motion. Responsive behavior: Fluid layout and wrapping text at 320px through desktop. Page compositions stack intentionally on narrow screens; recovery links remain visible. Touch: Normal taps activate all actions. Pointer-only decoration is optional and fixed on touch. Preserve keyboard access, visible focus and reduced-motion behavior. Keep fictional demo data and simulated service calls in a separate usage example; expose callbacks for real actions and recover from rejected requests. Keep usage-example links inside the demo: use local buttons or prevent navigation. Demonstration links must not navigate to Vitrine routes or open other pages; preserve real URL support in the reusable component itself. Verify the result at narrow and wide viewport sizes, with keyboard input and reduced motion enabled.

Notes

Interaction
In Vitrine and the usage example, activating a recovery link is simulated locally and never changes page. In a consumer application, caller-supplied anchors remain usable. Choose a destination by click or arrow/Home/End keys, then activate its link. Home is always available.
Motion
Needle rotates over 550ms expo-out; reduced motion updates immediately.
Accessibility
Semantic headings and native links/buttons, visible focus, decorative geometry hidden from assistive technology. Independent instances; honour reduced motion.
Responsive
Fluid layout and wrapping text at 320px through desktop. Page compositions stack intentionally on narrow screens; recovery links remain visible.
On touch
Normal taps activate all actions. Pointer-only decoration is optional and fixed on touch.

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