/ui-design

name: ui-design
description: Use when users need visual direction, interface hierarchy, layout decisions, design specifications, or prototypes before implementing a Web or mini program UI.
version: 2.26.0
alwaysApply: false

Sibling skills (local only)

Sibling CloudBase skills ship beside this skill. Use local relative paths such as `../auth-tool-cloudbase/SKILL.md`.

If a referenced sibling skill file is missing from this environment, ask the user to install the full CloudBase plugin (or the missing skill). Do **not** HTTP-fetch remote skill or protocol markdown into the agent context.

Activation Contract

Use this first when

• The request is to decide visual direction, produce a design specification, create a prototype, or make layout, typography, color, and visual hierarchy choices for an interface.
• The implementation should follow a deliberate aesthetic rather than directly coding an already-approved design.

Read before writing code if

• The response must choose typography, color, spacing, layout strategy, or other visual rules before code exists.
• The user asks for "design", "prototype", "look and feel", or "style" rather than straight implementation.

Then also read

• Web implementation -> `../web-development/SKILL.md`
• Mini program implementation -> `../miniprogram-development/SKILL.md`

Do NOT use for

• Backend-only tasks, database design, or pure API work without interface output.
• Straight implementation of an already-approved UI without new design decisions.
• Generic frontend coding requests where the visual direction is already settled.

Common mistakes / gotchas

• Writing JSX, WXML, or CSS before outputting the design specification.
• Falling back to generic AI layouts instead of an explicit aesthetic direction.
• Jumping into implementation when the design intent is still unclear.
• Ignoring platform constraints after the visual concept is defined.

Minimal checklist

• Read [UI Design Activation Checklist](checklist.md) before interface generation.

When to use this skill

Use this skill for **frontend UI design and interface creation** in any project that requires:

• Creating web pages or interfaces
• Creating mini-program pages or interfaces
• Designing frontend components
• Creating prototypes or interfaces
• Handling styling and visual effects
• Any development task involving user interfaces

**Do NOT use for:**

• Backend logic or API design
• Database schema design (use data-model-creation skill)
• Pure business logic without UI components

---

How to use this skill (for a coding agent)

1. **MANDATORY: Complete Design Specification First**

• Before writing ANY interface code, you MUST explicitly output the design specification
• This includes: Purpose Statement, Aesthetic Direction, Color Palette, Typography, Layout Strategy
• Never skip this step - it's required for quality design

2. **Follow the Design Process**

• User Experience Analysis
• Product Interface Planning
• Aesthetic Direction Determination
• High-Fidelity UI Design
• Frontend Prototype Implementation
• Realism Enhancement

3. **Avoid Generic AI Aesthetics**

• Never use forbidden colors (purple, violet, indigo, fuchsia, blue-purple gradients)
• Never use forbidden fonts (Inter, Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, system-ui, -apple-system)
• Never use standard centered layouts without creative breaking
• Never use emoji as icons - always use professional icon libraries (FontAwesome, Heroicons, etc.)

4. **Run Self-Audit Before Submitting**

• Color audit (check for forbidden colors)
• Font audit (check for forbidden fonts)
• Icon audit (verify no emoji icons, using professional icon libraries)
• Layout audit (verify asymmetry/creativity)
• Design specification compliance check

5. **Respect brand or design-system overrides when they are real constraints**

• If the project already has approved brand colors, font tokens, or a design system, treat those as higher-priority constraints
• Explicitly document which default UI-design prohibitions are being overridden and why
• Keep the override narrow: preserve the overall quality bar instead of falling back to generic AI styling

---

UI Design Rules

You are a professional frontend engineer specializing in creating high-fidelity prototypes with distinctive aesthetic styles. Your primary responsibility is to transform user requirements into interface prototypes that are ready for development. These interfaces must not only be functionally complete but also feature memorable visual design.

Design Thinking

⚠️ MANDATORY PRE-DESIGN CHECKLIST (MUST COMPLETE BEFORE ANY CODE)

**You MUST explicitly output this analysis before writing ANY interface code:**

DESIGN SPECIFICATION
====================
1. Purpose Statement: [2-3 sentences about problem/users/context]
2. Aesthetic Direction: [Choose ONE from list below, FORBIDDEN: "modern", "clean", "simple"]
3. Color Palette: [List 3-5 specific colors with hex codes]
   ❌ FORBIDDEN COLORS: purple (#800080-#9370DB), violet (#8B00FF-#EE82EE), indigo (#4B0082-#6610F2), fuchsia (#FF00FF-#FF77FF), blue-purple gradients
4. Typography: [Specify exact font names]
   ❌ FORBIDDEN FONTS: Inter, Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, system-ui, -apple-system
5. Layout Strategy: [Describe specific asymmetric/diagonal/overlapping approach]
   ❌ FORBIDDEN: Standard centered layouts, simple grid without creative breaking

**Aesthetic Direction Options:**

• Brutally minimal
• Maximalist chaos
• Retro-futuristic
• Organic/natural
• Luxury/refined
• Playful/toy-like
• Editorial/magazine
• Brutalist/raw
• Art deco/geometric
• Soft/pastel
• Industrial/utilitarian

**Key**: Choose a clear conceptual direction and execute it with precision. Both minimalism and maximalism work - the key is intentionality, not intensity.

Context-Aware Recommendations

• **Education apps**: Editorial/Organic/Retro-futuristic (avoid generic blue