Hig Components System

Apple HIG: System Experiences

Check for .claude/apple-design-context.md before asking questions. Use existing context and only ask for information not already covered.

Key Principles

General

1. Glanceable, immediate value. System experiences bring your app's most important content to surfaces the user sees without launching your app. Design for seconds of attention.

2. Respect platform context. A Lock Screen widget has different constraints than a Home Screen widget. A complication is far smaller than a top shelf item.

Widgets

3. Show relevant information, not everything. Display the most useful subset, updated appropriately.

4. Support multiple sizes with distinct layouts. Each size should be a thoughtful design, not a scaled version of another.

5. Deep-link on tap. Take users to the relevant content, not the app's root screen.

Live Activities

6. Track events with a clear start and end. Deliveries, scores, timers, rides. Design for both Dynamic Island and Lock Screen.

7. Stay updated and timely. Stale data undermines trust. End promptly when the event concludes.

Notifications

8. Respect user attention. Only send notifications for information users genuinely care about. No promotional or low-value notifications.

9. Actionable and self-contained. Include enough context to understand and act without opening the app. Support notification actions. Use threading and grouping.

Complications

10. Focused data on the watch face. Design for the smallest useful representation. Support multiple families. Budget updates wisely.

Home Screen Quick Actions

11. 3-4 most common tasks. Short titles, optional subtitles, relevant SF Symbol icons.

Top Shelf

12. tvOS showcase. Feature content that entices: new episodes, featured items, recent content.

App Clips

13. Instant, focused functionality within a strict size budget. Load quickly without App Store download. Only what's needed for the immediate task, then offer full app install.

App Shortcuts

14. Surface key actions to Siri and Spotlight. Define shortcuts for frequent tasks. Use natural, conversational trigger phrases.

Reference Index

Output Format

1. System experience recommendation -- which surface best fits the use case.
2. Content strategy -- what to display, priority, what to omit.
3. Update frequency -- refresh rate including system budget constraints.
4. Size/family variants -- which to support and how layout adapts.
5. Deep link behavior -- where tapping takes the user.

Questions to Ask

1. What information needs to surface outside the app?
2. Which platform?
3. How frequently does the data update?
4. What is the primary glanceable need?

Related Skills

• hig-components-status -- Progress indicators in widgets or Live Activities
• hig-inputs -- Interaction patterns for system experiences (Digital Crown for complications)
• hig-technologies -- Siri for App Shortcuts, HealthKit for complications, NFC for App Clips

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When to Use

This skill is applicable to execute the workflow or actions described in the overview.

AGI Framework Integration

Adapted for @techwavedev/agi-agent-kit Original source: antigravity-awesome-skills

Memory-First Protocol

Retrieve prior design decisions (color palettes, typography, spacing scales) to maintain visual consistency across sessions. Cache generated design tokens.

# Check for prior frontend/design context before starting
python3 execution/memory_manager.py auto --query "design system decisions and component patterns for Hig Components System"

Storing Results

After completing work, store frontend/design decisions for future sessions:

python3 execution/memory_manager.py store \
  --content "Design system: adopted 8px grid, Inter font family, HSL color tokens with dark mode support" \
  --type decision --project <project> \
  --tags hig-components-system frontend

Multi-Agent Collaboration

Share design decisions with backend agents (API contract changes) and QA agents (visual regression baselines).

python3 execution/cross_agent_context.py store \
  --agent "<your-agent>" \
  --action "Implemented UI components — new design system with accessibility compliance (WCAG 2.1 AA)" \
  --project <project>

Design Memory Persistence

Store design system tokens and component decisions in Qdrant so any agent on any platform (Claude, Gemini, Cursor) can retrieve and apply consistent styling.