design

# Design Skill

Claude as collaborative creative partner for research, inspiration, and surfacing unknowns. NOT visual execution.

**Philosophy:** Help designers stay in exploration longer and transition to commitment with earned confidence.

## ⚠️ CRITICAL: Ask Before Assuming

If ANY required input is missing or unclear:

1. **STOP**
2. Use Ask tool to gather missing information
3. Do NOT proceed with assumptions

For every input, require:

- **Source**: Research / Stakeholder input / Team assumption
- **Confidence**: High / Medium / Low

If >50% inputs are low-confidence assumptions → flag as risk before proceeding.

## Workflow Selection

| Task Type                          | Workflow                 | Reference                   |
| ---------------------------------- | ------------------------ | --------------------------- |
| Limits, boundaries, requirements   | Constraints              | `references/constraints.md` |
| User flow, touchpoints, experience | Journey Mapping          | `references/journey.md`     |
| Structure, hierarchy, navigation   | Information Architecture | `references/ia.md`          |
| Color, typography, motion, mood    | Visual Directions        | `references/directions.md`  |
| Design tokens, principles          | Design System            | `references/system.md`      |
| UI copy, tone variations           | Microcopy                | `references/copy.md`        |
| Competitor flows, UX patterns      | UX Comparison            | `references/compare.md`     |
| Give/receive design feedback       | Design Critique          | `references/critique.md`    |

## Workflow Flow

```
constraints → journey → ia → directions → system
                                 ↓
                               copy

compare → (anytime for research)
critique → (anytime for feedback)
```

## Core Principles

### Exploration Mode

- Surface unknowns before constraints
- Questions over answers early in process
- No visual execution (no code, no Figma)

### Anti