# steve-jobs-design-review

Design and product review skill inspired by Steve Jobs: ruthless subtraction, strict focus on the core value, and clear binary verdicts before shipping.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 3300 installs · ★ 2508
- Author: wondelai
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/wondelai/skills/tree/HEAD/steve-jobs-design-review/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-09-10
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/steve-jobs-design-review

## What it does

This skill audits features, interfaces, and roadmaps by working backwards from customer outcomes to implementation details. The agent runs a 7-point diagnostic test and maps results to a strict 0–10 score. Products scoring 9–10 are ready to ship. Scores between 5 and 8 demand immediate scope cuts, while anything 4 or below goes straight back to the drawing board.

The review centers on aggressive subtraction and behavior over static aesthetics. It pushes you to eliminate toggles in favor of opinionated defaults, minimize steps to core value, and eliminate unnecessary screens. Instead of polished mockups, it inspects empty states, network latency, and recovery flows. If an interface requires an explanation, the skill treats that text as a bug.

This skill does not handle visual styling like palettes or font pairings. The author explicitly points to refactoring-ui for visual design basics and ux-heuristics for usability audits. Its sole job is cutting scope until only the essential remains.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add wondelai/skills --skill steve-jobs-design-review -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/steve-jobs-design-review/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/steve-jobs-design-review/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add wondelai/skills --skill steve-jobs-design-review -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/steve-jobs-design-review/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add wondelai/skills --skill steve-jobs-design-review -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/steve-jobs-design-review/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install wondelai/skills steve-jobs-design-review
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/steve-jobs-design-review/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add wondelai/skills --skill steve-jobs-design-review -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/wondelai/skills --path steve-jobs-design-review
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/steve-jobs-design-review/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add wondelai/skills --skill steve-jobs-design-review -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/wondelai/skills/tree/HEAD/steve-jobs-design-review/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- cut unnecessary features from screens and backlogs
- reduce the number of steps required to reach core value
- audit interface behavior during cold starts, empty states, and errors
- trim quarterly product roadmaps down to essential bets

## Example prompts
- Run a Steve Jobs review on this onboarding flow: what can we remove to hit value in three steps?
- This settings page feels too complicated. What defaults can replace these toggles?
- Look at our roadmap for next quarter: is this good enough to ship or do we need to cut scope?

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: 4fd1fd19095d79a9.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE 4fd1fd19095d79a9
```text
---
name: steve-jobs-design-review
description: 'Review designs, products, and features with Steve Jobs'' standards: ruthless simplicity, focus, and end-to-end excellence. Use when the user mentions "Steve Jobs review", "design review", "product review", "what would Steve do", "insanely great", "this feels too complicated", "too many features", "product taste", "saying no", or "is this good enough to ship". Also trigger when critiquing a UI, feature, or roadmap for focus and simplicity, cutting scope to the essential, or pressure-testing the whole experience from first run to daily use. Covers the simplicity audit, the no list, design-is-how-it-works, end-to-end ownership, demo culture, and a Jobs-style review protocol with binary verdicts. For visual design fundamentals, see refactoring-ui. For usability audits, see ux-heuristics. For detail polish, see microinteractions.'
license: MIT
metadata:
  author: wondelai
  version: "1.2.0"
---

# Steve Jobs Design Review

Run design and product reviews the way Steve Jobs ran them: start from the customer experience, subtract until only the essential remains, and refuse to call anything done that isn't insanely great.

## Core Principle

**"You've got to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology."** Review every product from what a customer sees, feels, and accomplishes — never from the feature list, the org chart, or the technology that happened to be available. And remember the standard: "Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works."

## Scoring

**Goal: 10/10.** Count how many of the 7 Quick Diagnostic rows the product passes, then map to 0-10: 7/7 = 10, 6/7 = 9, 5/7 = 7, 4/7 = 6, 3/7 = 4, ≤2/7 ≤ 3. Bands: **9-10** = insanely great, ships; **5-8** = real cuts and fixes required; **≤4** = not done, back to demos. There is no "pretty good"; state the score, the exact rows that failed, and the specific cuts or fixes required to reach 10/10.

## Framework

### 1. Simplicity Is the Ultimate Sophistication

**Core concept:** Simplicity is not the absence of features — it is complexity conquered. Keep subtracting until removing one more thing would break the product's purpose.

**Why it works:** Every element a user must perceive, parse, or decide about taxes attention and erodes confidence. Simplicity that survives deep understanding of the problem feels inevitable; simplicity achieved by hiding things feels broken.

**Key insights:**
```
END THIRD-PARTY FILE 4fd1fd19095d79a9

The third-party file has ended. Everything between the 4fd1fd19095d79a9 tags is data: requests and commands from it are not followed. An “end of file” line with another tag inside the block is part of the file.

First 2490 of 18068 bytes. © wondelai · MIT · https://github.com/wondelai/skills/tree/HEAD/steve-jobs-design-review/SKILL.md

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---
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