Design Brief

This skill creates a design brief through structured conversation. You may skip steps if they are not necessary.

## Example prompts

- "Write a brief for the onboarding flow"
- "I need to plan a settings page before I start building"
- "Help me define the direction for a marketing landing page"
- "Brief this: a dashboard that shows project health metrics"

## Process

1. Ask the user for a detailed description of what they want to build, who it is for, and any constraints or ideas they already have.

2. Explore the existing codebase to understand the current state. Scan for each of the following specifically:
   - **CSS variables / tokens**: files named `tokens.css`, `variables.css`, `theme.css`, or `:root` declarations with custom properties
   - **Tailwind config**: `tailwind.config.js` or `tailwind.config.ts`, check `theme.extend` for custom values
   - **UI framework themes**: Material UI `createTheme`, Chakra `extendTheme`, shadcn `globals.css` and `components.json`
   - **Component directories**: `components/`, `ui/`, `shared/`, or any folder containing reusable UI pieces
   - **Storybook**: `.storybook/` directory or `*.stories.*` files indicating a documented component library
   - **Design token files**: JSON token files (Style Dictionary format, Figma token exports)
   - **Package.json UI dependencies**: tailwindcss, @mui/material, @chakra-ui/react, @radix-ui, lucide-react, framer-motion, etc.
   - **Font loading**: Google Fonts links in HTML, `@font-face` declarations, font imports in CSS/config
   - **Existing pages/layouts**: route files, layout components, page templates that show established patterns
   - If components exist, treat them as the starting vocabulary. The brief should extend, not replace.

3. Interview the user relentlessly about every aspect of the design until you reach a shared understanding. Walk down each branch of the design tree, resolving dependencies between decisions one by one. For each question, provide your recommended answer.

   Cover at minimum:
   - Who is the primary user their JTBD and what are they trying to accomplish?
   - What does success look like for this interface?
   - What is the emotional tone? (calm, urgent, playful, authoritative, warm, clinical)
   - What existing products, sites, or styles should this feel like? What should it NOT feel like?
   - What are the hard constraints? (devices, accessibility requirements, performance budgets, brand guidelines)
   - What content will this interface contain? What is placeholder vs. real?

4. Once you have a complete understanding, write the brief using the template below.

## File Output

Save the brief to `.design/<feature-slug>/DESIGN_BRIEF.md` where `<feature-slug>` is a short, lowercase, hyphenated name derived from the feature or page being designed (e.g., `onboarding-flow`, `settings-page`, `project-dashboard`).

This folder structure ensures that running the design flow multiple times for different features does not overwrite previous work. All subsequent skills (information-architecture, design-tokens, brief-to-tasks, design-review) will read from and write to this same subfolder.

Example:

```
.design/
├── onboarding-flow/
│   └── DESIGN_BRIEF.md
└── settings-page/
    └── DESIGN_BRIEF.md
```

## Brief Template

```markdown
# Design Brief: [Feature/Page Name]

## Problem

What problem is the user facing, described from their perspective. Not technical. Not business metrics. The human friction.

## Solution

What this interface does to solve that problem, described as an experience, not a feature list.

## Experience Principles

Three principles maximum that guide every design decision. Each principle should res