distill
Remove unnecessary complexity from designs, revealing the essential elements and creating clarity through ruthless simplification.
Distillation should happen before complexity hardens into the product. The best simplification move is often to avoid overbuilding in the first place.
MANDATORY PREPARATION
Users start this workflow with /distill. Once this skill is active, load $frontend-design — it contains design principles, anti-patterns, and the Context Gathering Protocol. Follow that protocol before proceeding — if no design context exists yet, you MUST load $setup first.
Consult the cognitive load when simplification depends on reducing visible choices, memory burden, or premature complexity. Consult the hierarchy checklist when clutter is really flattening priority, section restraint, or label/value clarity. Consult the action hierarchy when simplifying means deciding which controls should lead, recede, combine, or disappear.
Assess Current State
Analyze what makes the design feel complex or cluttered:
More from aladicf/better-web-ui
critique
Evaluate an interface from a UX perspective, assessing hierarchy, information architecture, emotional resonance, cognitive load, and overall quality with quantitative scoring and actionable feedback. Use when the user wants an overall design or UX review—not when the main need is measurable accessibility/performance diagnosis, or final micro-detail polish.
31polish
Perform a final quality pass fixing alignment, spacing, consistency, and micro-detail issues before shipping. Use when the work is functionally complete and needs finishing touches—not when the hierarchy, structure, tone, or technical foundation still need major changes.
31frontend-design
Create distinctive, production-grade frontend interfaces with strong hierarchy, thoughtful systems, and polished implementation that avoid generic AI aesthetics. Use when the user wants to build or redesign web pages, flows, components, or full app surfaces, or when another better-web-ui skill needs shared project design context before other better-web-ui skills.
30empty-state
Design focused empty states for zero-data, no-results, permission, and error situations with clear value framing, strong CTAs, and less dead chrome. Use when the user mentions blank pages, zero-data screens, no results, permission states, or dead controls—not broader onboarding strategy.
29normalize
Audit and realign UI to match design system standards, spacing, tokens, and patterns. Use when the user mentions consistency, design drift, mismatched styles, tokens, or wants to bring a feature back in line with the system.
29colorize
Build or refine UI color systems, warmth, semantic color, and color-based hierarchy in designs that are too gray, monochromatic, or missing color meaning. Use when the user mentions dull colors, gray UI, missing warmth, weak semantic color, or a need for stronger color hierarchy.
29