Fortify — Harden for Real-World Use

Overview

The happy path is a fantasy. Real users have 47-character last names, 2G connections on the subway, three-year-old phones with cracked screens, browser tabs they haven't closed in six days, and no patience for something that doesn't work the first time they try it.

Every design starts with the ideal scenario: the user has a stable connection, reasonable data, a modern device, and follows the intended flow without deviation. That scenario accounts for maybe 60% of actual usage. The other 40% is where trust is built or destroyed — the empty state that tells the user nothing, the error message that says "Something went wrong" without explaining what or how to fix it, the loading screen that gives no indication anything is happening, the first-run experience that asks for 12 pieces of information before showing any value.

Fortify systematically identifies every condition your users will actually encounter and ensures the design handles each one with the same care you gave the happy path. This isn't about pessimism — it's about respect for the people using what you build.

When to activate this skill: Edge case reviews, error state design, empty state design, loading pattern design, first-run experience design, offline mode planning, internationalization readiness checks, stress testing, or any moment someone asks "but what happens when..."

Skill family

Fortify works alongside the full Intent skill system, with especially tight connections to skills that define the paths you stress-test:

• /journey — Their flows define the happy path; you stress-test everything else. Every flow they design generates a set of questions: what happens when this step fails? What if the user abandons midway and returns? What if data from step 2 isn't available at step 4? Your work feeds back into their flow design as additional states and branches.