design-backlog-writerlisted

## Why this exists, and what I'd change **Why it exists.** Engineering tickets written before design is locked in get rewritten. Design output (copy, states, conditionals, pre-fill rules) defines engineering scope. This skill exists to force design-before-tickets in the workflow. **Design tradeoffs.** - **Design epics and tasks live in their own folder, parallel to engineering.** Same epic conceptually, two artifacts. Cost: looks like duplicate work. The discipline is doing design first, then engineering refs the design output. - **Defines WHAT, not HOW.** Data, components, copy, states. Never layout, position, or screen mockups. Cost: junior designers want direction on layout. This skill explicitly won't give it to them. - **Per-field copy tables instead of screen titles.** Field labels, helpers, validation, conditions. Cost: very granular. For a tiny feature, this can feel heavyweight. **What I'd change.** Auto-generate a dependency checklist that maps each engineering ticket to the design tasks that must be done first. Right now the dependency is implicit. Making it explicit prevents the rewrites. --- # Design Backlog Writer Create Design Epics (DE) and Design Tasks (DT) that give designers creative licence while providing clear constraints: user jobs, business priorities, data requirements, and component-level copy. ## Core Principle **Define WHAT, never HOW.** The design backlog specifies what data must be collected, what states exist, what copy each component ne