What problem does it solve? Designers and product teams routinely argue about whether a surface should be plain or polished, and often misapply the famous dictum "form follows function" — either stripping so much ornament that affordances disappear, or adding decoration that serves no purpose. This Skill clarifies the descriptive versus prescriptive interpretations of the principle so teams can make deliberate form-versus-function trade-offs. ## Core Features & Use Cases - Interpretation Framework: Distinguishes the descriptive reading (functional purity tends to produce beauty) from the prescriptive reading (aesthetics must be subordinate to function), with historical lineage from Sullivan, Bauhaus, and Modernism. - Decision Heuristics: Provides the success-criteria question, the decorative-element audit, and trade-off checks for choosing between competing visual directions. - Anti-pattern Catalog: Flags failure modes such as minimalism that strips affordance signifiers, ornament for its own sake, and form-follows-fashion trend chasing. - Use Case: When reviewing a dashboard redesign that "feels too decorated," use this Skill to audit each visual element against the product's success criteria and decide what to cut or keep. ## Quick Start Ask the agent to evaluate whether the current screen's decorative elements serve the product's success criteria using the form follows function principle.
