dec

name	dec
description	Use when the user invokes /dec, says 'run design engineering skills', or starts any design-engineering task — building/reviewing UI, scoping a product, shipping decisions, performance, AI-native UX — and it's unclear which dec-* skills apply. Dispatcher that routes to the right 2-4 of the 20 dec-* canon skills instead of loading the whole family.

Dec — Design Engineering Canon Dispatcher

Overview

The dec-* canon is 20 named-principle skills. Transcript evidence shows they fire in stable clusters per task type — and that "run design engineering skills" currently triggers an ad-hoc 6-skill load. This router makes the cluster choice deliberate.

Resolve the target first: the screen/feature/decision in the argument, else the active work. State it in one line, load the routed skills via the Skill tool, and reason from their named principles while working — router, not recital.

Routing Table

Task	Skills (in priority order)
Building an interactive UI / component (default row)	dec-accessibility, dec-core-principles, dec-cognitive-load, dec-css-architecture
Reviewing / auditing a screen for usability defects	dec-nielsen-heuristics, dec-accessibility, dec-norman-principles
"This feels overwhelming / confusing" diagnosis	dec-cognitive-load, dec-gestalt-principles, dec-krug-laws
Visual/communication design, taste, restraint	dec-rams-principles, dec-gestalt-principles, dec-motion-animation
Motion / transition decisions	dec-motion-animation, dec-core-principles
Ship/defer decisions, backlog ranking	dec-prioritization-frameworks, dec-product-metrics, dec-core-principles
Defining success / instrumenting a feature	dec-product-metrics, dec-discovery-validation
Scoping what to build / validating an idea	dec-discovery-validation, dec-prioritization-frameworks, dec-krug-laws
Slow or janky page	dec-web-performance, dec-rendering-architecture, dec-cognitive-load
Rendering / state architecture choices	dec-rendering-architecture, dec-software-principles
Styling architecture at scale	dec-css-architecture, dec-design-system-depth
Design system / tokens / component APIs	dec-design-system-depth, dec-css-architecture, dec-software-principles
AI/LLM-powered feature or agentic UX	dec-ai-native-patterns, dec-core-principles, dec-ux-laws
Justifying a UX call with a named law	dec-ux-laws, dec-nielsen-heuristics
Test strategy for UI	dec-quality-testing, dec-software-principles
Full sweep (/dec full — rare, major audit only)	dec-core-principles, dec-accessibility, dec-motion-animation, dec-css-architecture, dec-cognitive-load, dec-web-performance, then the rest as the audit demands

Ambiguous target → the default row.

Rules

• Load at most 4 per pass (full sweep excepted). Multiple rows match → primary row + one load-bearing skill from the secondary row.
• dec-core-principles is the common denominator — when in doubt whether to include it, include it.
• Reviews always pair dec-nielsen-heuristics with dec-accessibility — observed to travel together; a review with one and not the other misses half the defects.
• Canon vs specs: this family carries named principles (why); the /design family carries concrete values (what — tokens, ramps, grids). Deep UI work usually needs one skill from each, not five from one.
• Name which skills you loaded, per the always-on dec-* discipline in CLAUDE.md.