Platform Design Skills

Platform design skill pack: 450+ rules for Apple HIG, Material Design 3, and WCAG 2.2 across iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, visionOS, tvOS, Android, and Web.

Built by scraping the Apple Human Interface Guidelines (a compiled PDF version is included in this repo) and distilling it — along with Material Design 3 and WCAG 2.2 — into succinct but exhaustive skill files. Use them to evaluate, improve, or create your designs.

Available Skills

ios

Apple Human Interface Guidelines for iPhone. 67+ rules covering navigation, layout, accessibility, gestures, and iOS-specific components like tab bars, sheets, and Dynamic Island.

Use when:

• Building SwiftUI or UIKit interfaces for iPhone
• Reviewing iOS app code for HIG compliance
• Choosing between iOS navigation patterns
• Implementing accessibility, Dark Mode, Dynamic Type

ipados

Apple HIG for iPad, covering multitasking, pointer support, sidebar navigation, keyboard shortcuts, and Stage Manager. Extends the iOS skill with iPad-specific patterns.

Use when:

• Building iPad-optimized interfaces
• Implementing Split View, Slide Over, Stage Manager support
• Adding pointer/trackpad and keyboard shortcut support
• Designing responsive layouts for iPad screen sizes

macos

Apple HIG for Mac apps. Covers menu bars, window management, toolbars, keyboard-driven interaction, and the expectations of desktop power users.

Use when:

• Building macOS apps with SwiftUI or AppKit
• Implementing menu bars, toolbars, and sidebars
• Adding keyboard shortcuts and window management
• Designing for Catalyst or native macOS

watchos

Apple HIG for Apple Watch. Covers glanceable interfaces, Digital Crown, complications, Always On display, and wrist-optimized interactions.

Use when:

• Building watchOS apps or complications
• Designing for small screens and short interactions
• Implementing health/fitness features on Watch

visionos

Apple HIG for Apple Vision Pro. Covers spatial UI, eye and hand input, windows, volumes, immersive spaces, and ornaments.

Use when:

• Building visionOS apps with RealityKit or SwiftUI
• Designing for spatial computing and indirect gestures
• Implementing immersive experiences

tvos

Apple HIG for Apple TV. Covers focus-based navigation, Siri Remote, Top Shelf, and living room viewing distances.

Use when:

• Building tvOS apps
• Implementing focus-based navigation with Siri Remote
• Designing for 10-foot viewing experiences

android

Google Material Design 3 guidelines for Android. Covers Material You, dynamic color, navigation patterns, components, and Android-specific patterns.

Use when:

• Building Android apps with Jetpack Compose or XML layouts
• Reviewing Android code for Material Design compliance
• Implementing Material You and dynamic color
• Choosing between Android navigation patterns

web

Web platform best practices covering responsive design, accessibility (WCAG), performance, progressive enhancement, and modern CSS/HTML patterns.

Use when:

• Building web interfaces with any framework
• Auditing sites for accessibility compliance
• Implementing responsive, performant web layouts
• Reviewing web UI code for best practices

Installation

npx skills add ehmo/platform-design-skills

Contributing (Pull Requests)

• Fork the repository and create a feature branch from the default branch.
• Keep PRs focused to one theme (one platform, one major design area, or one format rule set).
• Update affected skill docs in skills/<platform>/SKILL.md and keep metadata.json entries aligned when behavior changes.
• If adding or changing rule coverage, ensure:
  • platform skill descriptions remain accurate,
  • source signals in the skill files are still correct,
  • and examples still reflect current platform behavior.
• In the PR description include:
  • what changed,
  • why this matters for AI output quality,
  • and a short before/after usage sample.
• Suggested PR title format: feat: ..., fix: ..., docs: ....

Example PR checklist:

• [ ] Scope matches the PR title
• [ ] One platform or one rule family per PR
• [ ] No broken relative links in touched files
• [ ] AGENTS/skill assumptions still stated clearly
• [ ] README and skill metadata remain consistent

Usage

Skills activate automatically when agents detect platform-relevant tasks.

Review this SwiftUI view for iOS HIG compliance

Check this Android Compose screen against Material Design

Audit this web page for accessibility

Skill Structure

Each skill contains:

• SKILL.md — Agent instructions with frontmatter metadata
• metadata.json — Version, references, and abstract
• rules/ — Individual rule files with examples
• AGENTS.md — Quick context for agent consumption

Sources

Platform-normative sources

• Apple Human Interface Guidelines (2025) — developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines
• Material Design 3 — m3.material.io
• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 — w3.org/WAI/WCAG22/quickref
• MDN Web Docs — developer.mozilla.org

Supporting HCI references

These are secondary references used to sharpen guidance around recognition over recall, visible waiting states, and input effort. They do not override Apple HIG, Material, or WCAG.

• Stuart K. Card, Thomas P. Moran, and Allen Newell, The Psychology of Human-Computer Interaction (1983) — https://archive.org/details/psychologyofhuma0000card
• Allen Newell and Stuart K. Card, Prospects for Psychological Science in Human-Computer Interaction (includes Model Human Processor summary and operating principles) — https://iiif.library.cmu.edu/file/Newell_box00042_fld03533_doc0001/Newell_box00042_fld03533_doc0001.pdf
• Tiffany Jastrzembski and Neil Charness, The Model Human Processor and the Older Adult: Parameter Estimation and Validation Within a Mobile Phone Task (2007 / PMC) — https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4591021/
• Human Processor Model overview (discovery/reference pointer) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_processor_model

License

MIT