# Deterministic Design

> Render the UI and prove it's balanced + usable: a deterministic layout audit (centroid / optical-center / pixel-oracle balance via explicit math + annotated screenshot) plus a vision-judged Nielsen usability audit by a separate fresh-eyes judge. T...

- Skill: `nous-hermeshub/deterministic-design` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds add nous-hermeshub/deterministic-design`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/nous-hermeshub/deterministic-design/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Security
- License: MIT
- Author: nous-hermeshub (https://skillmd.com/u/nous-hermeshub)
- Updated: 2026-09-08
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/nous-hermeshub/deterministic-design

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## When to Use

Use to catch AI-generated UI that "looks off", is misaligned or centered-mush, or fails usability — when you need to PROVE a layout is balanced and usable instead of trusting the model's eye. Compose it with any taste/token design skill before reporting design "done".

_Source: [connerkward/deterministic-design-skill](https://github.com/connerkward/deterministic-design-skill) (MIT)._

# deterministic-design

Thesis: **determinism beats AI randomness.** A model can't trust its own eye on layout — so
don't. Render the UI and *measure* it.

Two sub-skills (load as needed):
- **[design-spatial](https://github.com/connerkward/deterministic-design-skill/blob/main/design-spatial/SKILL.md)** — deterministic layout audit: explicit grid
  + 8-pt spacing, and `layout-audit.js` computes centroid / optical-center / pixel-oracle
  balance and draws an annotated screenshot. **Numbers, not vibes.** Plus a render-then-
  critique vision loop.
- **[design-ux](https://github.com/connerkward/deterministic-design-skill/blob/main/design-ux/SKILL.md)** — usability audit: scores the rendered UI against
  Nielsen's 10 + interaction heuristics via a SEPARATE fresh-eyes judge → prioritized fix list.

This **improves** existing design skills (including the default Anthropic one) by adding the
layer they lack — it doesn't just advise on taste, it renders, measures, and judges the
output. Composable with any design skill.

In central this lives as a subdir of ckw-design; it **publishes separately** as
`deterministic-design-skill` (its own distribution) via publish-skill. One of the two
flagship narratives — the *determinism* one; its sibling is human-in-the-loop (lookdev).

## Limitations

- Layout metrics and vision-judged audits catch many spatial and usability failures, but they are not a substitute for product judgment or user testing.
- The workflow requires a rendered UI or screenshot; it cannot validate components that have not been built or captured.
- Automated scoring can miss brand nuance, copy tone, accessibility needs, and domain-specific user expectations.