Sketchnote

Sketchnote Skill

Generate a clean visual feature overview from a PRD — sized for Notion and Slack, branded for your product.

This skill produces a copy-paste-ready prompt you take to Claude, ChatGPT (with image gen), or any AI that can render visual diagrams. It auto-fills the feature name, brand colors, and user problem from your active PRD so you're not rewriting boilerplate every time.

Quick Start

1. Run /sketchnote
2. I check your active PRD for: feature name, problem statement, proposed solution, user journey
3. I generate a ready-to-use prompt — copy it, paste it into Claude or ChatGPT, attach the PRD
4. The AI renders your sketchnote; save the output to outputs/prototypes/[feature]-sketchnote.png

Example: "Create a sketchnote for the Bank Connect flow"

Output: Prompt saved to outputs/prototypes/[feature]-sketchnote-prompt.md

Time: 5 minutes to generate prompt, 2 minutes to render

When to Use This Skill

• Communicating a new feature to stakeholders before engineering starts
• Embedding a visual summary in a Notion PRD page
• Sharing a feature overview in Slack without attaching the full spec
• Pre-meeting alignment — one image that replaces three slides
• Adding a visual layer to a PRD review panel session

Workflow

Step 1: Context Check

Before generating the prompt, I check the following in order:

If no PRD is open, I'll ask: "Which feature is this for? Drop in the PRD or give me a quick description."

Step 2: Fill the Template

I substitute real context into the prompt template below — feature name, problem, solution, journey steps, brand color. No generic placeholders left in the final prompt.

Step 3: Deliver the Prompt

I output the filled prompt in a code block you can copy directly. I also save it to outputs/prototypes/[feature-name]-sketchnote-prompt.md.

Step 4: Render and Save

Take the prompt to your AI tool of choice, attach the PRD as context, and generate. Save the image output to outputs/prototypes/[feature-name]-sketchnote.png.

The Core Prompt Template

This is the base prompt I fill in and hand to you. Variables in [BRACKETS] are replaced with real context from your workspace.

I'm attaching my product requirements document as MD. Read it fully, then generate a clean visual overview of [FEATURE NAME] that shows:

1. The user problem being solved (before/after comparison)
   Before: [SPECIFIC PAIN POINT FROM RESEARCH OR PRD]
   After: [THE OUTCOME THE FEATURE ENABLES]

2. The proposed solution as a labelled product diagram
   Show the key components: [LIST 2-4 CORE COMPONENTS FROM THE SOLUTION SECTION]
   Label each element clearly. Use connecting arrows to show data or action flow.

3. The key user journey in [3 or 4] annotated steps:
   Step 1: [FIRST USER ACTION]
   Step 2: [SECOND USER ACTION]
   Step 3: [THIRD USER ACTION]
   [Step 4 if needed]

Visual style:
- White background (#FFFFFF), [BRAND ACCENT COLOR] accents
- Bold sans-serif headers (e.g. Inter or DM Sans)
- Clean connecting arrows between elements — no decorative clutter
- Readable at 1080px width without zooming
- Embed-ready for Notion and Slack

Do not add a title slide or page border. Start the visual content at the top of the canvas.
Output as a single image (PNG preferred, 1080px wide, ~800-1000px tall).

Brand Values

When generating a sketchnote, I pull these from your design system file. If you don't have one yet, fill in defaults below:

Replace these with your real brand tokens before running the skill for production use.

Output Format

Every sketchnote skill run saves two files:

1. The filled prompt — outputs/prototypes/[feature]-sketchnote-prompt.md

# Sketchnote Prompt: [Feature Name]
**Generated:** [Date]
**PRD source:** [file path]
**Target tool:** [Claude / ChatGPT / other]

---

[FILLED PROMPT GOES HERE — copy everything below this line]

...

2. The rendered image (after you generate it) — outputs/prototypes/[feature]-sketchnote.png

Save the image here manually after your AI tool generates it. This keeps your visual outputs alongside your prototype prompts.

Choosing Your AI Tool

Recommendation: Start with Claude Artifacts. It renders structured diagrams with labeled components well, respects hex colors, and lets you iterate inline.

Customization Options

When you run /sketchnote, I'll ask if you want any of these:

• Steps: 3 or 4 journey steps?
• Tone: Technical (for engineers) or high-level (for executives/stakeholders)?
• Include metrics? Add a "success looks like" callout box with your target metrics
• Dark mode? Invert to dark background with light text (less common, but useful for slides)

Integration with Other Skills

Follows:

• /prd-draft — PRD is the source of truth for the sketchnote
• /user-research-synthesis — Use real pain points in the before/after

Feeds into:

• /generate-ai-prototype — Sketchnote shows what to build; prototype makes it interactive
• /prd-review-panel — Attach sketchnote to give reviewers a visual anchor
• /sync-to-notion-doc — Embed the sketchnote image in the Notion PRD page
• /status-update — Drop the sketchnote into stakeholder updates to replace paragraphs of explanation

Context Routing

Quality Check Before Handing Off the Prompt

Before delivering, I verify:

• Feature name is real (not "[FEATURE NAME]")
• Before/after uses specific pain point language, not generic filler
• Solution components are named correctly (match PRD terminology)
• Journey steps are in the right order and match the PRD flow
• Brand accent color is from your design system (not a made-up color)
• Step count is 3 or 4 (not "3-4" left as a range)
• Output path is set and matches the feature name

If any check fails, I fix it before delivering.