About critique-vocabulary
critique-vocabulary is a skill for making design feedback more precise, intended for designers and teams conducting critiques. It replaces vague judgments with specific visual observations and structures feedback as observation, principle, and question.
Key features
- 01Restricts vague or banned evaluative words
- 02Replaces them with observations about visual properties
- 03Structures feedback as observation, principle, and question
- 04Avoids commands and empty praise
Use cases
- 01Write specific feedback in an interface design critique
- 02Turn vague judgments into discussable visual observations
- 03Guide a team discussion of design trade-offs
Install
Copy the command and run it in a terminal.
$
npx skills add https:/After installing, type/critique-vocabularyin Claude Code to confirm it loaded.
Details
From the project READMECritique Vocabulary
Say exactly what you mean. Kill vague words.
How to use
/critique-vocabularyApply precise vocabulary constraints to all design feedback in this conversation.
Constraints
Banned Words
- NEVER use these in design feedback: clean, modern, sleek, nice, cool, interesting, beautiful, ugly, minimal, bold, intuitive, seamless, stunning, pop, vibe
- MUST replace every banned word with a specific observation about hierarchy, weight, rhythm, density, contrast, proportion, consistency, or spacing
Replacement Vocabulary
| Instead of... | Use... |
|---|---|
| "It feels cluttered" | "The information density is high relative to the content hierarchy. Nothing signals where to start." |
| "It looks boring" | "The visual rhythm is flat. Every section has the same scale and spacing." |
| "Make it pop" | "The CTA doesn't have enough visual separation from surrounding elements." |
| "Something feels off" | "The spacing between these groups seems inconsistent. Is this relationship intentional?" |
| "It's not polished" | "The border radius is inconsistent between these elements." |
| "Explore other directions" | "The current approach prioritizes X. What happens if we prioritize Y instead?" |
Feedback Structure
- MUST use: Observation > Principle > Question
- Observation: what you specifically see
- Principle: why it matters
- Question: what to explore (not what to do)
Anti-Patterns
- Giving feedback in the form of commands ("make the button blue")
- Using technical jargon to sound authoritative without actually being specific
- Being vague-positive ("looks great!") which teaches nothing
Comments
Markdown supported