field-notes
Field Notes
The format for making taste observations legible.
How to use
/field-notesWrite a structured taste breakdown of a product in this conversation./field-notes <product>Analyze the specified product using the field notes format.
Constraints
Field Note Structure
- Product name, URL, date, category
- What it's trying to be (2-3 sentences. Not what it does. What experience it's trying to create.)
- Three things that work (specific decisions with principles behind them)
- One thing that doesn't (specific decision with reasoning and impact)
- The taste principle (one sentence: "This product demonstrates that...")
- Tags (principle-based tags for the reference library)
Writing Rules
- MUST be specific. Reference actual elements, sizes, and interactions.
- MUST connect every observation to a principle.
- MUST include at least one thing that doesn't work. No product is perfect.
- SHOULD be under 500 words. Concise analysis is harder and more useful than exhaustive analysis.
- NEVER write a field note about a product you haven't actually used.
Anti-Patterns
- Writing only about famous products everyone has already analyzed
- Describing what the product does instead of how it feels to use
- Listing features instead of evaluating decisions
- Being uniformly positive (honest analysis includes what falls short)
More from dragoon0x/taste-skills
visual-audit
The 10-second design audit. Look at any design and name what's working and what's not within seconds. Trains rapid pattern recognition for hierarchy, spacing, type, and color. Use when evaluating designs quickly, giving first-impression feedback, or building perception speed.
21motion-design
Animation as communication. Feedback, orientation, emphasis, delight. If motion doesn't serve one of these four purposes, it shouldn't exist. Use when evaluating animation quality, designing transitions, or deciding whether motion adds or subtracts.
15taste-as-strategy
Use taste as a competitive moat and business advantage. In the AI and vibe-coding era, execution is commoditized. Taste is the defensible edge. Use when advising founders on product differentiation, building product culture, evaluating why some products win despite fewer features, or understanding taste as a strategic asset.
15teaching-taste
Help other designers develop judgment without imposing your style. Use when mentoring designers, running design education, or building team-wide quality standards.
15tradeoff-assessment
Name what was prioritized, what was sacrificed, and whether the tradeoff was right. Every design decision trades something. Use when evaluating design decisions, defending choices, or helping teams understand what they're giving up.
14system-deconstruction
Break a design system into its constituent decisions and evaluate each one. Use when auditing design systems, evaluating consistency, or understanding how a product maintains quality at scale.
14