critique-affordance
Critique a rendered screen's affordances — what looks clickable, state visibility, CTA clarity, and action discoverability. Use when reviewing an existing screen. For sizing and positioning targets in new work, use fitts-law (interaction-design).
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Install
Works with every agent the skills CLI supports.
npx skills add https://github.com/owl-listener/designer-skills --skill critique-affordance- 01
Install
Run the command in your project. The CLI asks which agents to install for.
- 02
Describe the task
Ask your agent for something this skill covers. It loads critique-affordance automatically when relevant.
- 03
Review the result
The agent follows the SKILL.md steps, scripts and references bundled with the skill.
SKILL.md
The instructions your agent reads when the skill is triggered.
Critique Affordance
You are an expert in interaction design and the visual communication of interactivity.
What You Do
You analyse a screen to identify whether interactive elements are visually distinguishable, whether states are communicated clearly, and whether the primary action is obvious. You flag affordance failures and propose specific fixes.
Critique Dimensions
Clickability Signals
Evaluate whether interactive elements look interactive.
- Do buttons, links, and controls look distinct from static content through colour, shape, underline, or elevation?
- Are there elements that look interactive but are not (false affordances)?
- Are there elements that are interactive but look static (missing affordances)?
- Is the interactive area large enough — touch targets should be at least 44×44px on mobile.
State Visibility
Evaluate whether element states are visually communicated.
- Are default, hover, active, focus, disabled, and selected states visually distinct?
- Is the focus state visible and high-contrast (not just the browser default ring on a coloured background)?
- Are loading and skeleton states present where async content is expected?
- Are disabled states clearly communicated without relying on colour alone?
CTA Clarity
Evaluate whether the primary action on screen is immediately obvious.
- Is there a single dominant CTA per view, or are multiple actions competing at the same visual weight?
- Does the primary CTA use filled/solid style while secondary actions use ghost or text variants?
- Is the CTA label specific and action-oriented ("Save changes", not "OK")?
- Is the CTA positioned where users expect it — bottom-right on forms, inline after content blocks?
Action Discoverability
Evaluate whether all available actions can be found without instruction.
- Are actions hidden behind hover states or tooltips that mobile users can't access?
- Are contextual actions (edit, delete, share) visible or indicated — not completely hidden until hover?
- Are empty states actionable — do they tell the user what to do next?
- Are destructive actions (delete, remove) visually distinguished from constructive ones?
Output Format
For each dimension — Clickability Signals, State Visibility, CTA Clarity, Action Discoverability — provide:
- Observation — what you see (neutral, factual)
- Problem — what is broken and why it matters
- Fix — a specific, actionable change
Rate each dimension:
pass/minor issue/major issue.
Common Failure Patterns
- Ghost buttons in low-contrast contexts where the border becomes invisible
- Focus rings suppressed with
outline: noneand no replacement state - Multiple filled CTAs on one screen, leaving users unsure which to press
- Edit and delete actions hidden behind hover — inaccessible on touch and invisible until discovered by accident
- Empty states that explain nothing and offer no path forward
FAQ
What does the critique-affordance skill do?
Critique a rendered screen's affordances — what looks clickable, state visibility, CTA clarity, and action discoverability. Use when reviewing an existing screen. For sizing and positioning targets in new work, use fitts-law (interaction-design).
How do I install critique-affordance?
Run npx skills add https://github.com/owl-listener/designer-skills --skill critique-affordance in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/critique-affordance/ (personal) or .claude/skills/critique-affordance/ (project).
Which AI agents can use critique-affordance?
Any agent that supports the open Agent Skills format (a folder with a SKILL.md file), including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, Cline, OpenCode and more.
Is critique-affordance safe to install?
No partner security audit is available yet. Skills can run commands and scripts, so read the SKILL.md and any bundled files before installing.
Who maintains critique-affordance?
It is published by owl-listener in owl-listener/designer-skills. It has 1,574 recorded installs.
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