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Agentic product design harness

Seven design processes built from 17 skills, from object model to developer handoff.

Client
Own work
Role
Designer and builder
Year
2026

I built my own product design harness: 17 skills combined into seven design processes that write down how I structure, review and document products, so AI tools follow the same standards I do. It covers UX architecture, design-system audits and repairs, design and accessibility review, and handoff. I use it every day, and I check and decide every step.

  • 17
    Skills in the harness
  • 7
    Design processes, from object model to handoff
  • 1 run
    Full design-system audit, repair and re-check
How a design task runs through the harness: load the project, structure first, design system, build in Figma, review and hand off, each branching to the skills it uses
The full skills live in a private repository. The accessibility kit is public on the Skills page.

Every task runs through the same six steps

Load the project, structure first, check the design system, build in Figma, review, hand off. Each step has its own skills, written as instructions, references and a clear definition of done. I check the result of every step before the next one starts, so after review the design is ready to hand off. The diagram at the top shows which skill belongs to which step. The six steps are how one task runs. The seven processes below are the kinds of work the harness covers.

Seven processes, one standard

  • Start a project: load the product’s design system, sources and earlier decisions, kept per product so the skills stay general.
  • Structure before screens: object model, priority guides and user flows, documented in Figma.
  • Design-system repair: audit, AI readiness, approved repairs and a second audit.
  • Design and build in Figma: design review and structural rules while building.
  • Accessibility: WCAG review, findings pinned in Figma, fix and re-review.
  • Handoff: decisions, specs and states for engineering.
  • Figma to code: screens rebuilt in code and checked against the design.

Structure before screens

Before any screen is drawn, the structure skills decide what each view must show and in what order. In this example from my own product, a process card shows its name first, then its status and progress, then its phases, and its actions last. The card is the top of the process page, so both share the same content, the same order and the same menu.

What a process card shows, and what its page adds, in order CARD GLANCE Double Diamond Workflow name Active · 4 of 8 nodes done status and progress RELATIONSHIPS Discover · Define · Develop · Deliver phases, each opens 8 nodes · next: Ideate nodes From the Double Diamond template template, later SUBTEXT Marta K. · 2 days ago created by, last updated ACTIONS Duplicate · Save as template · Delete same menu as the page PAGE HEADER · THE CARD AGAIN Double Diamond Workflow Active · 4 of 8 · from template · Marta K. · 2 days ago Rename · Duplicate · Save as template · Delete same menu, same order MAIN CONTENT Description discover, define, develop, deliver Phase 1 · Discover nodes in order; add a node at the end Phase 2 · Define … + Add phase AI Suggest phases and steps opens a panel; the person picks OPTIONAL Notes · tags · assignees later phase Top to bottom is the priority. The card is the top of the page: same content, same order, same menu.

A real run: repairing my product’s design system

In September I ran the design-system skills on my own product. Like most systems that grow with a product, it had drifted. The audit only collected evidence and changed nothing: 16 findings, from swatch labels that did not match their colours to colours typed by hand inside components. I approved the safe fixes, the repair skills made them in Figma one at a time, and a second audit scored the result.

How a design system gets repaired: audit, score, approve, repair, re-auditHow a design system gets repairedAuditevidence only,no editsScorehow well AI toolscan use itApprovethe designerpicks the fixesRepairchanges in Figma,one at a timeRe-auditscore againwith proof

Before

What the first audit found

  • 36 swatch labels that did not match their colours
  • 231 colours typed by hand in components
  • No radius tokens
  • No component descriptions
  • Documentation rated 1 of 4 for AI tools

After

What the second audit found

  • 0 mismatched labels
  • 231 colours bound to design tokens
  • 4 radius tokens, 83 radii bound
  • 21 components described
  • Documentation rated 3 of 4

Three decisions behind it

Write down the judgement, not one big prompt

What I chose
Each recurring task became its own skill, with the rules, references and a clear definition of done. A long general prompt was the alternative, but it gives different results every time and nobody can review it.
What it cost
Writing and maintaining every skill. Each rule has to be stated precisely enough that it can be checked.
What it changed
The same task gives the same quality each time, and a new project starts from the same standards instead of from zero.

Audit before anything changes

What I chose
Design-system work starts with an audit that only collects evidence, then a plan I approve. Repairs come after that, never during the audit.
What it cost
A slower start, because nothing improves until the audit and the plan are done.
What it changed
Every change has a reason on record, and risky changes such as renaming components wait for a decision instead of happening by accident.

Design systems that people and AI tools can both read

What I chose
The audit checks a design system for two readers: designers, and the AI tools that build with it. Tokens, names and component descriptions have to be clear enough that nothing needs guessing.
What it cost
Extra documentation work that most teams skip.
What it changed
On my own product, the documentation score for AI tools went from 1 to 3 out of 4, and the design system now explains itself.

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