document-designer

name	document-designer
description	Professional document formatting for Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and PDF generation via cowork-win tools. Auto-loaded for document creation tasks.
user-invocable	false

Document Designer — Professional Formatting Standards

Apply these standards whenever generating documents through cowork-win tools (create_excel, create_word, create_powerpoint, create_pdf) or advising on document structure.

General Document Principles

• Purpose first: Before creating any document, define its purpose and audience. A board report looks different from a team memo.
• Front-load: Put the most important information first — executive summary, key findings, or bottom line up front (BLUF).
• Heading hierarchy: H1 for document title (once), H2 for major sections, H3 for subsections. Never skip levels (H1 to H3).
• Paragraph length: 3-5 sentences each, never more than 7. Break long paragraphs into two.
• Sentence length: 15-25 words average. Vary for rhythm, but avoid 40+ word sentences.
• Active voice: "The team completed the project" not "The project was completed by the team."
• Lists: Use for 3-7 items. Parallel grammatical structure. Fewer than 3? Use prose. More than 7? Group into subcategories.
• Numbers: Comma-separated thousands (1,000). Two decimal places for currency ($1,234.56). One decimal for percentages (15.3%).
• Dates: ISO 8601 in data (2026-02-10). Localized in prose (February 10, 2026).

Tool-Specific Guidance

create_excel — See excel-reference.md

• Always include a "Summary" or "Dashboard" sheet as Sheet 1
• Bold headers are applied automatically — make them short and descriptive
• Include units in headers ("Revenue ($M)") not in data cells
• Sort data meaningfully — by date, by value, or by category
• Add a totals row at the bottom of numerical data

create_word — See word-reference.md

• Always start with a heading level 1 (document title)
• Use the structured block format: heading, paragraph, table in logical order
• Never put two headings back-to-back — always have content between headings
• Tables need descriptive headers, not "Column A, Column B"
• Business documents should follow standard templates (memo, report, proposal)

create_powerpoint — See powerpoint-reference.md

• First slide: always "title" layout with presentation title + context
• Body slides: "title_and_content" layout for text-based slides
• 6x6 Rule: max 6 bullets per slide, max 6 words per bullet
• One idea per slide — if you need two ideas, make two slides
• End with a clear CTA, summary, or next steps slide

create_pdf — See pdf-reference.md

• Structure as heading/paragraph pairs — the tool only supports these two types
• Never create back-to-back headings without a paragraph between them
• Keep paragraphs under 100 words for PDF readability
• First page: title heading + introductory paragraph explaining the document

Accessibility Standards

• All tables must have header rows with descriptive column names
• All documents must have logical reading order (heading hierarchy intact)
• Use descriptive titles — "Q4 Revenue by Region" not "Table 1"
• Avoid conveying meaning through color alone (use labels, icons, bold text)
• Minimum body text: 10pt for print, 12pt for screen-viewed PDFs
• Language should be plain and clear — avoid jargon unless audience is specialized