Process & robustness — router
This plugin holds the principles that govern how design happens and how it survives contact with reality — accessibility, iteration loops, edge cases, design-team dynamics, robustness against scale.
Principles in this plugin
Each principle has its own skill (with sub-aspect skills where useful). Principles marked [full] have reference-grade skill files; the rest are planned and will be added in subsequent passes.
Inclusion
accessibility [full] — usable by people with the widest possible range of abilities.
- Sub-skills:
accessibility-perceivable, accessibility-operable, accessibility-understandable, accessibility-robust.
Process and iteration
iteration — design is a loop, not a waterfall.prototyping — making something concrete reveals what specs cannot.development-cycle — projects move through requirements, design, develop, test phases.life-cycle — products age; design for the whole arc, not just launch.design-by-committee — group consensus produces averaged designs; beware.not-invented-here — reflexive rejection of external solutions costs time and quality.ockhams-razor (also in cognition) — among solutions that work, prefer the simplest.
Robustness and edge cases
factor-of-safety — design with margin so normal operation isn't at the edge of failure.weakest-link — chains break at the weakest link; find and reinforce it.normal-distribution — most users cluster around the mean; design for the bulk, accommodate the tails.scaling-fallacy — what works at small scale doesn't necessarily scale.uncertainty-principle — observation changes the observed; instrumentation distorts behavior.structural-forms — load-bearing patterns that distribute stress (mass, frame, shell).
Heuristic for which to read first
- Every design task →
accessibility. Read it, run the checklist.
- MVP scoping →
iteration, ockhams-razor, factor-of-safety.
- "Is this ready to ship?" →
weakest-link, factor-of-safety, accessibility.
- Design system governance →
consistency (cognition), modularity (cognition), life-cycle.
- Reviewing scale →
scaling-fallacy, normal-distribution.
- Stuck in committee →
design-by-committee, not-invented-here, ockhams-razor.
- Performance / latency →
weakest-link, factor-of-safety, feedback-loop (interaction).
Cross-plugin pointers
- For visual hierarchy and grouping, see
perception-and-hierarchy-principles.
- For learnability, see
cognition-and-learnability-principles.
- For behavior, see
interaction-and-control-principles.
- For aesthetic and tonal decisions, see
aesthetics-and-emotion-principles.
1---2name: process-router3description: Use this skill whenever the question is *how* to design well over time or *how* to make a design that doesn't break — accessibility, prototyping cadence, MVP scoping, edge cases, performance budget, error handling at scale, design system governance, or any architectural-design question. Trigger on accessibility questions, "is this ready to ship," "what about the edge case where," design reviews, MVP scoping, "we have too many opinions on this." Framework-agnostic. Routes the model to the right process or robustness principle in this plugin.4---56# Process & robustness — router78This plugin holds the principles that govern *how design happens* and *how it survives contact with reality* — accessibility, iteration loops, edge cases, design-team dynamics, robustness against scale.910## Principles in this plugin1112Each principle has its own skill (with sub-aspect skills where useful). Principles marked **[full]** have reference-grade skill files; the rest are planned and will be added in subsequent passes.1314### Inclusion1516- **`accessibility`** *[full]* — usable by people with the widest possible range of abilities.17 - Sub-skills: `accessibility-perceivable`, `accessibility-operable`, `accessibility-understandable`, `accessibility-robust`.1819### Process and iteration2021- **`iteration`** — design is a loop, not a waterfall.22- **`prototyping`** — making something concrete reveals what specs cannot.23- **`development-cycle`** — projects move through requirements, design, develop, test phases.24- **`life-cycle`** — products age; design for the whole arc, not just launch.25- **`design-by-committee`** — group consensus produces averaged designs; beware.26- **`not-invented-here`** — reflexive rejection of external solutions costs time and quality.27- **`ockhams-razor`** *(also in cognition)* — among solutions that work, prefer the simplest.2829### Robustness and edge cases3031- **`factor-of-safety`** — design with margin so normal operation isn't at the edge of failure.32- **`weakest-link`** — chains break at the weakest link; find and reinforce it.33- **`normal-distribution`** — most users cluster around the mean; design for the bulk, accommodate the tails.34- **`scaling-fallacy`** — what works at small scale doesn't necessarily scale.35- **`uncertainty-principle`** — observation changes the observed; instrumentation distorts behavior.36- **`structural-forms`** — load-bearing patterns that distribute stress (mass, frame, shell).3738## Heuristic for which to read first3940- **Every design task** → `accessibility`. Read it, run the checklist.41- **MVP scoping** → `iteration`, `ockhams-razor`, `factor-of-safety`.42- **"Is this ready to ship?"** → `weakest-link`, `factor-of-safety`, `accessibility`.43- **Design system governance** → `consistency` (cognition), `modularity` (cognition), `life-cycle`.44- **Reviewing scale** → `scaling-fallacy`, `normal-distribution`.45- **Stuck in committee** → `design-by-committee`, `not-invented-here`, `ockhams-razor`.46- **Performance / latency** → `weakest-link`, `factor-of-safety`, `feedback-loop` (interaction).4748## Cross-plugin pointers4950- For *visual* hierarchy and grouping, see `perception-and-hierarchy-principles`.51- For *learnability*, see `cognition-and-learnability-principles`.52- For *behavior*, see `interaction-and-control-principles`.53- For *aesthetic and tonal* decisions, see `aesthetics-and-emotion-principles`.
ConcertoNotes