ui-originality-criteria

Use when building or reviewing user-visible UI (marketing pages, dashboards, app shells, flows). Encodes the four grading dimensions from Anthropic — Harness design for long-running application development so subjective quality stays gradable and anti-“AI slop”.

Pair with .claude/protocols/evaluation-rubric.md for harness-wide severity (BLOCKER / HIGH / …); this skill is the product-design lens.

---

The four dimensions

1. Design quality (coherent whole)

Question: Does the layout feel like one intentional system—not a pile of unrelated components?

Strong: Color, type, spacing, imagery, and motion share a clear mood; hierarchy tells a single story.

FAIL signals: Mismatched radii/shadows; competing focal points; “default component” look with no unifying thread.

---

2. Originality (deliberate choices)

Question: Would a human designer see custom decisions, or stock templates / library defaults / clichéd AI patterns?

Strong: Distinct typography pairing, palette, or layout rhythm tied to the product’s domain.

FAIL signals: Unmodified stock cards; purple-on-white hero gradients “because SaaS”; generic three-column icon grids with lorem tone; interchangeable with ten other AI landing pages.

---

3. Craft (technical execution)

Question: Are fundamentals solid—type scale, spacing rhythm, contrast, alignment?

This is competence, not creativity. Most honest implementations pass unless something is broken.

FAIL signals: Illegible contrast; broken hierarchy; ragged grids; tap targets too small; obvious misalignment.

---

4. Functionality (usability without relying on beauty)

Question: Can a user understand what the UI does, find primary actions, and complete tasks without guessing?

FAIL signals: Hidden primary actions; misleading labels; dead ends; keyboard traps; unclear empty/error states.

---

Weighting (from the article)

When both generator and evaluator see these criteria, bias feedback toward design quality and originality first—Claude often scores craft and functionality well by default. Use craft and functionality as hygiene gates, not as excuses to ship bland work.

---

Generator rules

1. Pick one clear visual metaphor (e.g. “mission control”, “workshop”, “terminal calm”) and thread it through nav, surfaces, and accents.
2. Avoid the banned patterns in Originality unless the spec explicitly demands them.
3. After a first pass, self-check against all four bullets in writing before requesting evaluator review.

---

Evaluator rules

1. Assume generic patterns until disproven—require evidence (screenshots, DOM notes, contrast checks).
2. Cite which dimension each finding belongs to.
3. If UI-heavy AC exists, treat Originality + Design quality gaps as at least HIGH when the spec asked for a distinctive or branded experience.

---

References

• Anthropic article (full context): https://www.anthropic.com/engineering/harness-design-long-running-apps
• Harness evaluator rubric: .claude/protocols/evaluation-rubric.md
• Example dashboard applying this lens: docs/index.html (Agent Forge static dashboard — NASA retro / space-console theme)