Agent skill · design visual · erichowens
human-centered-design-fundamentals
Apply cognitive psychology principles to design discoverable, understandable products through affordances, signifiers, feedback, and conceptual models. For physical and digital interfaces requiring
Why this skill is useful
Provides a structured approach to applying cognitive psychology principles in design, which the AI wouldn't reliably generate on its own.
What it needs
About 8k tokens when loaded. Last updated 2026-07-14. 180 stars on the source repository.
What this skill does
Human-Centered Design Fundamentals Design products that accommodate actual human cognition and behavior rather than expecting humans to adapt to arbitrary system requirements. When to Use ✅ Use for: Physical product design (doors, appliances, controls, tools) Digital interface design (software, touchscreens, dashboards) System design where human error is critical (medical devices, industrial controls, aircraft) Redesigning systems after repeated user errors Creating instructions and documentation Error prevention and safety-critical systems ❌ NOT for: Pure visual design without functional components Marketing and brand identity Autonomous systems with no human interaction Systems where users have unlimited training time and perfect memory Core Process Seven Stages of Action Decision Tree Design Evaluation Decision Tree Root Cause Analysis Process Anti-Patterns 🚫 Blaming Human Error Novice approach: Incident occurs Investigation identifies operator action as proximate cause Conclusion: "Human error - operator needs retraining" Action: Discipline/replace operator, add more warnings Timeline: Immediate blame assignment within hours/days Expert approach: Incident occurs Acknowledge human action as symptom, not cause Apply Five Whys: "Why did operator make that choice?" Discover: Ambiguous signifier, mode confusion, inadequate feedback, excessive memory load Conclusion: "System failed to support human capabilities" Action: Redesign interface to prevent error conditions Timeline: Weeks of investigation to understand systemic factors Shibboleth: "If an error is common, it's a design failure. …
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills erichowens/human-centered-design-fundamentals