diff --git a/DESIGN.md b/DESIGN.md
index 6ce6aa1..e7cc406 100644
--- a/DESIGN.md
+++ b/DESIGN.md
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ Port of the visual system for ewancroft.uk.
 - Use a raised parent surface with a 4px inset to group compact rows.
 - Use the Selected Projects row anatomy across UI collections: a clear label, supporting detail, and trailing metadata where relevant.
 - Actionable rows share a primary-tinted hover and keyboard-focus highlight. Static rows do not imply interactivity.
-- Apply the brief quart-eased lift only to actionable rows, and remove it when reduced motion is preferred.
+- Keep rows spatially stable on hover and focus; communicate state through colour rather than positional movement.
 - Keep prose lists semantic and unstyled; this pattern is for navigational and data indexes.
 
 ## Anti-references
diff --git a/src/lib/styles/motion.css b/src/lib/styles/motion.css
index 56c544e..ebf3b2a 100644
--- a/src/lib/styles/motion.css
+++ b/src/lib/styles/motion.css
@@ -33,15 +33,6 @@
 
   /* ── Interaction Feedbacks ──────────────────────────────────── */
 
-  /* Confident scale on hover */
-  .hover-lift {
-    transition: transform var(--duration-fast) var(--ease-out-quart);
-  }
-
-  .hover-lift:hover {
-    transform: translateY(-2px);
-  }
-
   /* Decisive feedback on click */
   .active-press:active {
     transform: scale(0.98);
diff --git a/src/lib/styles/pages.css b/src/lib/styles/pages.css
index 6b3f1f3..909e89e 100644
--- a/src/lib/styles/pages.css
+++ b/src/lib/styles/pages.css
@@ -314,9 +314,10 @@
   }
 
   .link-chip {
-    display: flex;
+    display: grid;
+    grid-template-columns: minmax(10rem, 0.7fr) minmax(0, 1.3fr) auto;
     align-items: center;
-    gap: var(--space-xs);
+    gap: var(--space-md);
     padding: var(--space-3);
     border-radius: var(--radius-sm);
     font-size: var(--text-sm);
@@ -334,12 +335,29 @@
     font-size: 1.1em;
   }
 
+  .link-label {
+    display: flex;
+    align-items: center;
+    min-width: 0;
+    gap: var(--space-xs);
+  }
+
   .link-text {
     white-space: nowrap;
     overflow: hidden;
     text-overflow: ellipsis;
   }
 
+  .link-url {
+    min-width: 0;
+    overflow: hidden;
+    color: var(--color-text-500);
+    font-family: var(--font-mono);
+    font-size: var(--text-xs);
+    text-overflow: ellipsis;
+    white-space: nowrap;
+  }
+
   @media (max-width: 560px) {
     .hero-avatar {
       width: 48px;
@@ -371,6 +389,20 @@
     .link-grid {
       grid-template-columns: minmax(0, 1fr);
     }
+
+    .link-chip {
+      grid-template-columns: minmax(0, 1fr) auto;
+      gap: var(--space-2xs) var(--space-sm);
+    }
+
+    .link-url {
+      grid-column: 1;
+    }
+
+    .link-chip > .muted-icon {
+      grid-column: 2;
+      grid-row: 1 / span 2;
+    }
   }
 
   @media (max-width: 800px) {
@@ -1002,6 +1034,11 @@
   .sidebar-group {
     margin-bottom: var(--space-md);
   }
+
+  .meta-list + .sidebar-group {
+    margin-top: var(--space-lg);
+  }
+
   .meta-list {
     display: flex;
     flex-direction: column;
@@ -1939,8 +1976,7 @@
   ) {
     transition:
       background-color var(--duration-fast) var(--ease-out-quart),
-      color var(--duration-fast) var(--ease-out-quart),
-      transform var(--duration-fast) var(--ease-out-quart);
+      color var(--duration-fast) var(--ease-out-quart);
   }
 
   :is(
@@ -1960,19 +1996,4 @@
     );
     color: var(--color-text-950);
   }
-
-  @media (prefers-reduced-motion: no-preference) {
-    :is(
-      a.post-row,
-      a.link-row,
-      .project-card--link,
-      .project-item,
-      .link-chip,
-      .crypto-card:has(button),
-      .comment:has(a),
-      .meta-card:has(a)
-    ):hover {
-      transform: translateY(calc(-1 * var(--space-2xs)));
-    }
-  }
 }
diff --git a/src/routes/+page.svelte b/src/routes/+page.svelte
index 99371c4..b3c73ca 100644
--- a/src/routes/+page.svelte
+++ b/src/routes/+page.svelte
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@
         <ul class="post-list home-post-list content-reveal-list">
           {#each posts.filter(p => p.publicationRkey === PUBLIC_LEAFLET_BLOG_PUBLICATION).slice(0, 5) as post, i}
             <li>
-              <a href={getBlogUrl(post)} class="post-row hover-lift active-press">
+              <a href={getBlogUrl(post)} class="post-row active-press">
                 <span class="row-stack post-copy">
                   {#if i === 0}<span class="home-row-label">Latest</span>{/if}
                   <span class="post-title">{post.title}</span>
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@
         <div class="project-grid content-reveal-list">
           {#each pinnedProjects as project}
             {#if project.url}
-              <a href={project.url} target="_blank" rel="noopener" class="project-card project-card--link hover-lift active-press">
+              <a href={project.url} target="_blank" rel="noopener" class="project-card project-card--link active-press">
                 <strong class="project-name">{project.name}</strong>
                 {#if project.description}
                   <p class="project-desc">{project.description}</p>
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@
         <ul class="post-list content-reveal-list">
           {#each publications.filter((p: any) => p.rkey !== PUBLIC_LEAFLET_BLOG_PUBLICATION) as pub}
             <li>
-              <a href={pub.url} target="_blank" rel="noopener" class="post-row publication-row hover-lift active-press">
+              <a href={pub.url} target="_blank" rel="noopener" class="post-row publication-row active-press">
                 <span class="post-title">{pub.name}</span>
                 <span class="row-meta publication-description">{pub.description}</span>
               </a>
@@ -234,11 +234,14 @@
     {:else if links && links.cards && links.cards.length > 0}
         <div class="link-grid content-reveal-list">
           {#each links.cards.slice(0, 8) as link}
-            <a href={link.url} target="_blank" rel="noopener" class="link-chip hover-lift active-press">
-              {#if link.emoji}
-                <span class="link-emoji">{link.emoji}</span>
-              {/if}
-              <span class="link-text">{link.text}</span>
+            <a href={link.url} target="_blank" rel="noopener" class="link-chip active-press">
+              <span class="link-label">
+                {#if link.emoji}
+                  <span class="link-emoji">{link.emoji}</span>
+                {/if}
+                <span class="link-text">{link.text}</span>
+              </span>
+              <span class="link-url">{link.url}</span>
               <ExternalLink size={10} strokeWidth={2} class="muted-icon" />
             </a>
           {/each}
diff --git a/src/routes/blog/+page.svelte b/src/routes/blog/+page.svelte
index df6eae8..4846b8e 100644
--- a/src/routes/blog/+page.svelte
+++ b/src/routes/blog/+page.svelte
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@
                 <p class="page-desc">{data.blog.description}</p>
                 <div class="page-hd-actions">
                     <span class="archive-count">{data.total} posts</span>
-                    <a href={data.blog.rss} target="_blank" rel="noopener" class="section-link hover-lift active-press"><Rss size={14} strokeWidth={2} /> RSS</a>
+                    <a href={data.blog.rss} target="_blank" rel="noopener" class="section-link active-press"><Rss size={14} strokeWidth={2} /> RSS</a>
                 </div>
             </div>
         {/if}
diff --git a/src/routes/site/design/+page.svelte b/src/routes/site/design/+page.svelte
index ae48c75..0f6c8a4 100644
--- a/src/routes/site/design/+page.svelte
+++ b/src/routes/site/design/+page.svelte
@@ -538,7 +538,7 @@
                   </a>
                   <div class="project-card">
                     <strong class="project-name">Static row</strong>
-                    <p class="project-desc">No highlight or lift when the row has no action.</p>
+                    <p class="project-desc">No highlight when the row has no action.</p>
                     <span class="project-card-meta"><span class="project-language">DATA</span></span>
                   </div>
                 </div>
@@ -557,7 +557,7 @@
                   </div>
                   <div>
                     <dt>Motion</dt>
-                    <dd>2px lift over 200ms; removed for reduced motion</dd>
+                    <dd>No positional movement; state changes use colour only</dd>
                   </div>
                 </dl>
               </div>