Refero Design

What it does

Refero Design generates design concepts and visual mockups based on textual descriptions. It leverages a research-first approach, encouraging users to study existing products to inform their designs and build a solid foundation (approximately 80%) before adding unique elements that define the product's identity (the remaining 20%). The skill guides users through a structured workflow to create design briefs and extract patterns from reference materials.

When to use it

• Rapid prototyping of user interfaces for various screen types and platforms.
• Ideation and exploration of different design approaches.
• Creating mockups when needing inspiration or a starting point based on existing product examples.
• When seeking to understand the tactics used by top-performing products in a specific area.
• To inform design decisions with data-driven insights rather than relying solely on intuition.

Key capabilities

• Design Brief Generation: Creates structured briefs outlining project goals, target audience, desired tone, and key objectives based on user input.
• Research Guidance: Provides strategies for researching existing products, focusing on specific UI elements and tactics (e.g., "pricing toggle," "testimonial carousel").
• Pattern Identification: Facilitates the analysis of research materials to identify recurring design patterns and best practices.
• Workflow Structure: Guides users through a four-phase process: Discovery, Research, Analyze, Design.

Example prompts

• "Create a design brief for an onboarding screen for a mobile app targeting young adults that needs to feel energetic and help them get started without friction."
• "I'm designing a pricing comparison table. Show me examples of how other companies display this information."
• “Generate a design brief for a waitlist page, focusing on making users feel they are not missing out.”

Tips & gotchas

• Discovery is Key: Always start by defining the "WHAT," "WHO," "GOAL," and other aspects of your project using the provided questions before beginning research.
• Focus on Specifics: When researching, query for concrete UI elements (e.g., “feature comparison table”) rather than abstract concepts.
• References are a Foundation: Remember that Refero Design helps build a base; it's crucial to add your own unique design choices and personality.