information-architecture
Design the structure, hierarchy, and navigation model for a product's content and features.
What this skill does
# Information Architecture You are an expert in organizing information so users can find what they need and understand where they are. ## What You Do You design the underlying structure of a product — how content and features are categorized, labeled, and connected — and produce the deliverables that communicate that structure to teams. ## Core IA Deliverables ### Sitemap / Content Inventory - Hierarchical map of all screens, sections, and content types - Shows parent/child relationships and navigation depth - Distinguishes primary navigation from utility navigation - Flags orphaned content, redundant paths, and dead ends ### Navigation Model - **Global navigation**: present everywhere (header nav, bottom tab bar) - **Local navigation**: contextual to the current section (sidebar, tabs, breadcrumbs) - **Utility navigation**: account, settings, help — high reach, low frequency - **Contextual links**: inline links between related content ### Taxonomy & Labeling - Category names derived from user vocabulary (card sort data, interview language) - Consistent labeling across navigation, headings, search, and empty states - Avoid internal jargon — test labels with users, not colleagues ### Content Model - Define content types (article, product, event, profile…) - Attributes of each type (title, author, date, category, media…) - Relationships between types (article belongs to category, event has speakers…) ## IA Heuristics - **Findability**: can users locate any item in under 3 clicks from any entry point? - **Discoverability**: do users encounter relevant content they weren't explicitly seeking? - **Wayfinding**: do users always know where they are, how they got there, and how to get back? - **Scent**: do navigation labels and category names accurately predict what's inside? - **Depth vs breadth**: prefer shallower hierarchies (3 levels max for primary content); wide flat structures are harder to navigate than moderate depth with clear labels ## Process 1. **Audit**: inventory existing content and map current structure 2. **Research**: card sort (open for new structures, closed for validation), tree testing 3. **Draft**: sketch candidate hierarchies; evaluate against findability and user mental models 4. **Validate**: tree test the draft IA with target users before building navigation components 5. **Document**: produce sitemap and content model for the team ## Common Mistakes - Building IA around org structure rather than user tasks - Conflating navigation structure with URL structure - Designing IA from the homepage outward — design from tasks inward - Assuming search substitutes for IA — search fails when users don't know the right terms ## Best Practices - Conduct open card sorts before designing new structures; closed card sorts to validate - Tree test early — it's cheap and reveals findability failures before they're built - Revisit IA as content volume grows; structures that work at launch often break at scale - Label from user vocabulary; measure with first-click tests on key tasks
Related in Design
contribute
IncludedLocal-only OSS contribution command center. Auto-refreshes the user's in-flight PR and issue state on invoke so conversations start with full context — no need to brief Claude on what's in flight. Helps the user find issues to contribute to on GitHub, builds per-repo dossiers of what each upstream expects (CLA, DCO, branch convention, AI policy, draft-first, review bots, issue templates), runs deterministic gates before any external action so AI-assisted contributions don't reach maintainers as slop. State is markdown-only: candidate files at ~/.contribute-system/candidates/, repo dossiers at ~/.contribute-system/research/, append-only event log at ~/.contribute-system/log.jsonl. No database, no cloud calls. Use when the user asks about their PRs / issues / contributions, wants to find new work to take on, claim an issue, build/refresh a repo's dossier, or draft a Design Issue or PR. Trigger with "/contribute", "what's my PR status", "find a contribution", "claim issue X", "draft a Design Issue for Y", "refresh dossier for Z".
architectural-analysis
IncludedUser-triggered deep architectural analysis of a codebase or scoped subtree across eight modes — information architecture, data flow, integration points, UI surfaces, interaction patterns, data model, control flow, and failure modes. This skill should be used when the user asks to "diagram this codebase," "map the architecture," "show the data flow," "give me an ERD," "trace control flow," "find the integration points," "verify the layout pattern," "audit the UX architecture," or any similar request whose primary deliverable is mermaid diagrams plus cited reports under docs/architecture/. Dispatches haiku/sonnet sub-agents in parallel for per-mode exploration, then verifies every citation mechanically before any node lands in a diagram. Not for one-off prose explanations of code (use code-explanation) or for high-level system design from scratch (use system-design).
mcp
IncludedModel Context Protocol (MCP) server development and tool management. Languages: Python, TypeScript. Capabilities: build MCP servers, integrate external APIs, discover/execute MCP tools, manage multi-server configs, design agent-centric tools. Actions: create, build, integrate, discover, execute, configure MCP servers/tools. Keywords: MCP, Model Context Protocol, MCP server, MCP tool, stdio transport, SSE transport, tool discovery, resource provider, prompt template, external API integration, Gemini CLI MCP, Claude MCP, agent tools, tool execution, server config. Use when: building MCP servers, integrating external APIs as MCP tools, discovering available MCP tools, executing MCP capabilities, configuring multi-server setups, designing tools for AI agents.
react-native-skia
IncludedDesign, build, debug, and optimise high-polish animated graphics in React Native or Expo using @shopify/react-native-skia, Reanimated, and Gesture Handler. Use when the user wants canvas-driven UI, shaders, paths, rich text, image filters, sprite fields, Skottie, video frames, snapshots, web CanvasKit setup, or performance tuning for custom motion-heavy elements such as loaders, hero art, cards, charts, progress indicators, particle systems, or gesture-driven surfaces. Also use when the user asks for fluid, glow, glass, blob, parallax, 60fps/120fps, or GPU-friendly animated effects in React Native, even if they do not explicitly say "Skia". Do not use for ordinary form/layout work with standard views.
plaid
IncludedProduct Led AI Development — guides founders from idea to launched product. Six capabilities: Idea (discover a product idea), Validate (pressure-test the idea against fatal flaws, problem reality, competition, and 2-week MVP feasibility), Plan (vision intake + document generation), Design (translate image references into a design.md spec), Launch (go-to-market strategy), and Build (roadmap execution). Use when someone says "PLAID", "plaid idea", "help me find an idea", "product idea", "idea from my business", "idea from my expertise", "plaid validate", "validate my idea", "pressure-test", "is this idea good", "find fatal flaws", "validate the problem", "plan a product", "define my vision", "generate a PRD", "product strategy", "plaid design", "design from image", "translate image to design", "create design.md", "extract design tokens", "plaid launch", "go-to-market", "launch plan", "GTM strategy", "launch playbook", "plaid build", "build the app", "start building", or "execute the roadmap".
nextjs-framer-motion-animations
IncludedAdds production-safe Motion for React or Framer Motion animations to Next.js apps, including reveal, hover and tap micro-interactions, whileInView, stagger, AnimatePresence, layout and layoutId transitions, reorder, scroll-linked UI, and lightweight route-content transitions. Use when the user asks to add, refactor, or debug Motion or Framer Motion in App Router or Pages Router codebases, especially around server/client boundaries, reduced motion, LazyMotion, bundle size, hydration, or route transitions. Avoid for GSAP-style timelines, WebGL or 3D scenes, heavy scroll storytelling, or CSS-only effects unless Motion is explicitly requested.