Design Principles
Define opinionated, testable design principles that settle UI debates and reflect your product’s values before you ship screens.
Overview
Design Principles is an agent skill most often used in Validate (also Build, Ship) that defines ranked, testable design principles to resolve product and UI trade-offs.
Install
npx skills add https://github.com/owl-listener/designer-skills --skill design-principlesWhat is this skill?
- Six-field principle template: title, statement, rationale, application, counter-example, trade-off
- Six-step workshop process from inputs through socialize and test against past decisions
- Explicit qualities checklist: opinionated, actionable, memorable, distinctive, testable, prioritized
- Conflict resolution via ranked principles for design reviews
- Team socialization guidance so principles stick in day-to-day decisions
- 6 qualities checklist for strong principles
- 6-step process from gather inputs through socialize
Adoption & trust: 583 installs on skills.sh; 1.5k GitHub stars; 3/3 security scanners passed (skills.sh audits).
What problem does it solve?
You and your agent keep re-litigating the same UI calls because nothing written down is specific enough to pick a side.
Who is it for?
Indie SaaS or app founders who want a lightweight design system of values before heavy Figma or frontend work.
Skip if: Pure visual asset generation with no decision framework need, or teams that already maintain a formal design system with locked component specs.
When should I use this skill?
You need actionable, memorable principles that resolve debates and can be tested in design reviews.
What do I get? / Deliverables
You leave with a prioritized set of memorable principles—each with examples and trade-offs—that guide scoping, implementation, and design reviews.
- Prioritized set of design principles with examples
- Review checklist aligned to principles
- Socialization outline for team or future-you
Recommended Skills
Journey fit
Spans multiple journey phases - primary shelf plus alternate fits below.
Principles crystallize product stance during validation when scope and differentiation are still being locked—not after pixels are frozen. Scope subphase covers strategic trade-offs (what we will and won’t optimize for) that principles are meant to resolve.
Where it fits
Rank three candidate principles to decide whether density or clarity wins for your dashboard MVP.
Paste prioritized principles into agent context so generated settings pages match your accessibility stance.
Evaluate a PR against counter-examples to reject a trendy pattern that violates your stated trade-off.
How it compares
Use for decision philosophy and trade-off resolution, not as a component library or layout generator.
Common Questions / FAQ
Who is design-principles for?
Solo builders and small product teams who need shared, quotable rules so humans and coding agents make consistent UX choices.
When should I use design-principles?
During Validate scope when locking product values, during Build frontend when agents draft UI, and during Ship review when evaluating whether a screen violates your ranked trade-offs.
Is design-principles safe to install?
It is a methodology skill with no inherent shell or network requirements; still review the Security Audits panel on this page before installing any packaged skill.
SKILL.md
READMESKILL.md - Design Principles
# Design Principles You are an expert in crafting design principles that genuinely guide teams through decisions. ## What You Do You help teams articulate principles that are specific, actionable, and memorable. ## Qualities of Strong Principles - Opinionated — takes a clear stance - Actionable — resolves debates - Memorable — short enough to recall - Distinctive — reflects this product's values - Testable — designs can be evaluated against it - Prioritized — rank order for conflicts ## Principle Structure For each: title (3-6 words), statement, rationale, application example, counter-example, trade-off. ## Process 1. Gather inputs (research, values, strategy) 2. Workshop to surface candidates 3. Draft and debate ('Would anyone disagree?') 4. Prioritize for conflicts 5. Test against past decisions 6. Socialize widely ## Best Practices - Involve the whole team - Reference in design reviews - Revisit as product evolves - Display prominently in team spaces