writing-specs-designs
Help users write effective specs and design documents. Use when someone is creating technical specs, feature specs, design docs, or trying to communicate product requirements to engineering and design teams.
What this skill does
# Writing Specs & Designs Help the user write effective specs and design documents using frameworks and insights from 7 product leaders. ## How to Help When the user asks for help with specs and design docs: 1. **Determine the fidelity level** - Ask if they need conceptual alignment (low-fi) or detailed implementation guidance (high-fi) 2. **Encourage prototyping over polish** - Push toward functional prototypes where possible rather than static documentation 3. **Focus on moving pieces** - Help them identify the key affordances, connections, and system behaviors 4. **Consider long-term implications** - Remind them that temporary shortcuts often become permanent design decisions ## Core Principles ### Low-fidelity sketches drive collaboration Christina Wodtke: "If I got on the whiteboard and drew really badly, somebody else will go, 'No, no, no, it doesn't work that way. Give me this pen.' It gets you so fast to a shared vision." Drawing 'badly' invites participation and corrections, accelerating alignment. ### Well-shaped specs clarify without over-specifying Ryan Singer: "The output of the shaping session is some kind of drawing or diagram where engineers, product, and design are all saying, 'I know exactly what to go build.'" Aim for a level of detail where the team sees the 'electricity in the walls' without prescribing UI details. ### Prototype to feel the product Tamar Yehoshua: "I can't tell you if this is going to work. I have to feel it. I have to try it. A mock-up doesn't tell you what it's going to feel like." Push for prototypes with real data to test experience, not just static screenshots. ### Code prototypes over static mocks Noah Weiss: "We stopped spending cycles on design explorations of static mocks and said, 'How quickly can we get into prototyping the path in real software, even if it's messy and throwaway?'" Move to real software prototypes as quickly as possible. ### Products live in the pixels Nikita Bier: "You should be designing the hierarchy, the pixels, the flows, everything. Products live and die in the pixels." For zero-to-one products, own the granular design details; every tap is precious. ### Optimize every tap Nikita Bier: "Every tap on a mobile app is a miracle. Users will turn and bounce to their next app very quickly." Design with extreme efficiency; each interaction must provide immediate value. ### Use fat marker sketches Ryan Singer: "Use breadboarding and fat marker sketching. We're going to hit this button, go to here, this calculation runs, then we get this answer." Fat markers prevent getting bogged down in UI details like colors or spacing. ### Shortcuts become permanent Tom Conrad: "Temporary design shortcuts often become permanent product legacies that persist through multiple technical rewrites." Be mindful that early implementation details may define long-term user expectations. ### PMs should learn to sketch Ravi Mehta: "Learn how to sketch, learn Balsamiq. Having that ability to think at a conceptual level about how UI and UX works is a critical part of being a PM." Develop self-sufficiency in creating conceptual wireframes. ## Questions to Help Users - "Do you need team alignment (low-fi sketch) or implementation guidance (high-fi spec)?" - "Could you prototype this instead of documenting it?" - "What are the 10 or fewer moving pieces in this solution?" - "Have you tested this design with real users, not just stakeholders?" - "What temporary shortcuts might become permanent decisions?" - "Is every tap in this flow providing clear value to the user?" ## Common Mistakes to Flag - **Over-specified wireframes** - High-fidelity mockups can slow collaboration; start with fat marker sketches - **Static mocks for complex interactions** - Test the feel with real prototypes, not screenshots - **Ignoring pixel-level details** - For consumer products, every tap and transition matters - **Specs that no one reads** - If engineers aren't using the document, it's the wrong format or fidelity - **Temporary decisions that persist** - Recognize that early shortcuts may last decades ## Deep Dive For all 10 insights from 7 guests, see `references/guest-insights.md` ## Related Skills - Writing PRDs - Usability Testing - Stakeholder Alignment - Shipping Products
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.