PR Design Doc
OpenHands/OpenHands
For a non-trivial pull request, write a self-contained HTML design doc under the temporary .pr/ directory and link a visibility-appropriate preview in the PR description, so maintainers grasp the…
Documents the reasoning behind design decisions including alternatives considered, trade-offs evaluated, and principles applied.
Install Develop Design Rationale
$ npx skills add product-on-purpose/pm-skills --skill develop-design-rationale -a claude-codeProject install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.
$ gh skill install product-on-purpose/pm-skills develop-design-rationale --agent claude-codeProject scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/product-on-purpose/pm-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/develop-design-rationale .claude/skills/develop-design-rationale && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.
Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/
Install the "develop-design-rationale" agent skill from https://github.com/product-on-purpose/pm-skills/tree/main/skills/develop-design-rationale into .claude/skills/develop-design-rationale/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "develop-design-rationale", then confirm the skill loads.Claude Code copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$skill-installer install https://github.com/product-on-purpose/pm-skills/tree/main/skills/develop-design-rationaleType this inside Codex. $skill-installer <name> installs a curated skill from openai/skills. The installer writes to $CODEX_HOME/skills (default ~/.codex/skills). Restart Codex if the skill does not show up.
$ npx skills add product-on-purpose/pm-skills --skill develop-design-rationale -a codexProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.
$ gh skill install product-on-purpose/pm-skills develop-design-rationale --agent codexProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/product-on-purpose/pm-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/develop-design-rationale .agents/skills/develop-design-rationale && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.
Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/
Install the "develop-design-rationale" agent skill from https://github.com/product-on-purpose/pm-skills/tree/main/skills/develop-design-rationale into .agents/skills/develop-design-rationale/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "develop-design-rationale", then confirm the skill loads.Codex copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ npx skills add product-on-purpose/pm-skills --skill develop-design-rationale -a cursorProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.
$ gh skill install product-on-purpose/pm-skills develop-design-rationale --agent cursorProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/product-on-purpose/pm-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/develop-design-rationale .cursor/skills/develop-design-rationale && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.cursor/skills/ instead of .cursor/skills for a personal install.
Cursor skills documentation · loads skills from .cursor/skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/, .codex/skills/
Install the "develop-design-rationale" agent skill from https://github.com/product-on-purpose/pm-skills/tree/main/skills/develop-design-rationale into .cursor/skills/develop-design-rationale/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "develop-design-rationale", then confirm the skill loads.Cursor copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ gemini skills install https://github.com/product-on-purpose/pm-skills.git --path skills/develop-design-rationale--scope user (default) or --scope workspace; --path is the subfolder of the repo that holds the skill; --consent skips the security confirmation prompt.
$ npx skills add product-on-purpose/pm-skills --skill develop-design-rationale -a gemini-cliProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.
$ gh skill install product-on-purpose/pm-skills develop-design-rationale --agent gemini-cliProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/product-on-purpose/pm-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/develop-design-rationale .gemini/skills/develop-design-rationale && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.gemini/skills/ instead of .gemini/skills for a personal install, then run /skills reload.
Gemini CLI skills documentation · loads skills from .gemini/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "develop-design-rationale" agent skill from https://github.com/product-on-purpose/pm-skills/tree/main/skills/develop-design-rationale into .gemini/skills/develop-design-rationale/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "develop-design-rationale", then confirm the skill loads.Gemini CLI copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ gh skill install product-on-purpose/pm-skills develop-design-rationaleInstalls for Copilot at project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Preview a skill first with gh skill preview. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).
$ npx skills add product-on-purpose/pm-skills --skill develop-design-rationale -a github-copilotProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/product-on-purpose/pm-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/develop-design-rationale .github/skills/develop-design-rationale && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.copilot/skills/ instead of .github/skills for a personal install. Commit .github/skills so cloud agent and code review can use it.
GitHub Copilot skills documentation · loads skills from .github/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "develop-design-rationale" agent skill from https://github.com/product-on-purpose/pm-skills/tree/main/skills/develop-design-rationale into .github/skills/develop-design-rationale/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "develop-design-rationale", then confirm the skill loads.GitHub Copilot copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ npx skills add product-on-purpose/pm-skills --skill develop-design-rationale -a opencodeOpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.
$ gh skill install product-on-purpose/pm-skills develop-design-rationale --agent opencodeProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/product-on-purpose/pm-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/develop-design-rationale .opencode/skills/develop-design-rationale && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.config/opencode/skills/ instead of .opencode/skills for a personal install.
OpenCode skills documentation · loads skills from .opencode/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "develop-design-rationale" agent skill from https://github.com/product-on-purpose/pm-skills/tree/main/skills/develop-design-rationale into .opencode/skills/develop-design-rationale/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "develop-design-rationale", then confirm the skill loads.OpenCode copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
Facts
- Skill name
develop-design-rationale- GitHub stars
- 715
- Token cost
- ~1k tokens
- SKILL.md length
- 456 words
- Files
- 5 (incl. references)
- Skills in repo
- 68
- Repo updated
- First seen
- Licence
- Apache-2.0
At a glance
Documents the reasoning behind design decisions including alternatives considered, trade-offs evaluated, and principles applied.
- Works in 7 steps: State the Decision → Describe the Context → List Options Considered → …
- Making significant UX decisions
- SKILL.md covers When to Use, When NOT to Use, Instructions and Output Format, plus 2 more sections
- Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md
What it does
Develop Design Rationale is an agent skill from product-on-purpose/pm-skills. Documents the reasoning behind design decisions including alternatives considered, trade-offs evaluated, and principles applied. Use when making significant UX decisions, aligning with stakeholders on design direction, or preserving design context for future reference.
Its SKILL.md is about 1k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 6 other files, including reference files (for example `HISTORY.md`, `evals/trigger-fixtures.json` and `references/EXAMPLE.md`).
It sits in Development, covering Architecture decision records. The repository describes itself as: 68 plug-and-play, best-practice product management skills for AI agents: 30 Triple Diamond phase + 11 foundation + 12 utility + 15 tool (Foundation Sprint + Design Sprint). Plus… The licence is Apache-2.0.
When your agent uses it
- Making significant UX decisions
- Aligning with stakeholders on design direction
- Preserving design context for future reference
Example prompts
- “Use the develop-design-rationale skill to document the reasoning behind design decisions including alternatives considered, trade-offs evaluated…”
- “/develop-design-rationale”
Workflow steps
7 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.
- State the Decision
- Describe the Context
- List Options Considered
- Define Evaluation Criteria
- Explain the Reasoning
- Document Trade-offs Accepted
- Note Follow-up Considerations
What it can do on your machine
Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 1cef1a9. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.
Tool permissions
Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.
From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.
Runs code
No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md.
From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.
Network
No URLs in SKILL.md.
From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.
Credentials
Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.
From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.
Context cost
Develop Design Rationale loads about 1k tokens when it runs, and up to ~4.4k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 74 tokens; SKILL.md has 456 words of instructions outside code blocks.
Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.
Safety
Auto-check passed
The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.
Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.
SKILL.md
The full file from product-on-purpose/pm-skills at commit 1cef1a9, republished under its Apache-2.0 licence (© product-on-purpose). 456 words, ~1,027 tokens.
Download SKILL.mdSave it as
.claude/skills/develop-design-rationale/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 4 other files; get the full folder from GitHub.- name
- develop-design-rationale
- description
- Documents the reasoning behind design decisions including alternatives considered, trade-offs evaluated, and principles applied. Use when making significant UX decisions, aligning with stakeholders on design direction, or preserving design context for future reference.
- license
- Apache-2.0
- metadata.phase
- develop
- metadata.version
- 2.1.0
- metadata.updated
- 2026-06-10
- metadata.category
- specification
- metadata.frameworks
- triple-diamond, lean-startup, design-thinking
- metadata.author
- product-on-purpose
<!-- PM-Skills | https://github.com/product-on-purpose/pm-skills | Apache 2.0 -->Design Rationale
A design rationale document captures the "why" behind design decisions.the context, constraints, alternatives considered, and reasoning that led to a particular solution. While designs themselves show what was built, rationale documents preserve institutional knowledge about why it was built that way.
When to Use
- When making significant UX decisions that affect user experience
- Before design reviews to prepare stakeholder discussions
- When multiple valid approaches exist and the choice needs justification
- To onboard new team members to existing design decisions
- When revisiting past decisions to understand original reasoning
- During design system evolution to document pattern choices
When NOT to Use
- The decision is architectural or a technology selection -> use
develop-adr(Nygard format) - You need stakeholder alignment on the overall solution direction -> use
develop-solution-brief - You are documenting exploration findings rather than a decision -> use
develop-spike-summary - The decision is trivially reversible and low-stakes: a rationale document adds ceremony; record the reasoning in the PR or ticket instead
Instructions
When asked to document design rationale, follow these steps:
State the Decision Begin with a clear, one-sentence summary of what design decision was made. This becomes the title and reference point for the document.
Describe the Context Explain the situation that prompted this decision. What problem were you solving? What constraints existed? What user needs informed the direction? Include relevant research findings.
List Options Considered Document at least 2-3 alternatives that were evaluated. For each option, describe what it would look like and its key characteristics. Be fair to all options.avoid strawmen.
Define Evaluation Criteria Specify how options were assessed: usability heuristics, technical feasibility, brand alignment, user research findings, business requirements, or design principles.
Explain the Reasoning Walk through why the chosen option best meets the criteria. Be explicit about trade-offs.what you gained and what you sacrificed. Acknowledge where the decision is reversible vs. irreversible.
Document Trade-offs Accepted Every design decision involves trade-offs. Name what you gave up and why it was acceptable. This honesty helps future teams understand constraints.
Note Follow-up Considerations Capture anything that needs attention later: metrics to watch, conditions that might warrant revisiting the decision, or related decisions to make.
Show full SKILL.md (98 more words)Show less
Output Format
Use the template in references/TEMPLATE.md to structure the output. A complete rationale fills every template section: Decision Summary; Context; Options Considered; Evaluation; Decision Rationale; Trade-offs Accepted; Reversibility; Follow-up Considerations; Supporting Materials; and Decision History.
Quality Checklist
Before finalizing, verify:
- Decision is clearly stated in one sentence
- Context explains the "why now" and constraints
- Multiple alternatives are documented fairly
- Evaluation criteria are explicit
- Reasoning addresses why chosen option beats alternatives
- Trade-offs are honestly acknowledged
- A reader who inherits this design can reconstruct why the chosen option won without asking anyone
Examples
See references/EXAMPLE.md for a completed example.
© product-on-purpose, Apache-2.0. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file
Files
SKILL.md and 4 other files (references) in skills/develop-design-rationale of product-on-purpose/pm-skills.
- SKILL.md
- HISTORY.md
- evals/trigger-fixtures.json
- references/EXAMPLE.md
- references/TEMPLATE.md
Open the folder on GitHubat commit 1cef1a9
Compare with similar skills
Develop Design Rationale next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.
| Skill | Stars | Used in | Tokens | Auto-check | Licence | Repo updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Develop Design Rationale this skillproduct-on-purpose/pm-skills | 715 | — | ~1k | Automated safety check: Pass | Apache-2.0 | |
| PR Design DocOpenHands/OpenHands | 90k | — | ~2.4k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Cto AdvisorIbrahim-3d/orchestrator-supaconductor | 380 | 4 repos | ~2.4k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Improve Codebase Architectureywwynm/EverythingDone | 144 | 15 repos | ~1.3k | Automated safety check: Pass | GPL-3.0 | |
| Domain Modelingbrim-borium/spotify_sdk | 166 | 5 repos | ~806 | Automated safety check: Pass | Apache-2.0 | |
| Design Doc MermaidSpillwaveSolutions/design-doc-mermaid | 175 | 1 repos | ~5.6k | Automated safety check: Pass | None |
Similar skills
Cto Advisor
Ibrahim-3d/orchestrator-supaconductor
Technical leadership guidance for engineering teams, architecture decisions, and technology strategy.
Improve Codebase Architecture
ywwynm/EverythingDone
Find deepening opportunities in a codebase, informed by the domain language in CONTEXT.md and the decisions in docs/adr/.
Domain Modeling
brim-borium/spotify_sdk
Build and sharpen a project's domain model. An agent skill from brim-borium/spotify_sdk.
Design Doc Mermaid
SpillwaveSolutions/design-doc-mermaid
Create Mermaid diagrams (flowchart, sequence, class, ER, state, C4, architecture) from text or source code.
Learning Opportunities
DrCatHicks/learning-opportunities
Facilitates deliberate skill development during AI-assisted coding.
More from product-on-purpose/pm-skills
All 68 skills in this repoDefine Hypothesis
product-on-purpose/pm-skills
Defines a testable hypothesis with clear success metrics and a validation approach.
Define Jtbd Canvas
product-on-purpose/pm-skills
Creates a Jobs to be Done canvas capturing the functional, emotional, and social dimensions of a customer job.
Define Opportunity Tree
product-on-purpose/pm-skills
Creates an opportunity solution tree connecting a desired outcome to customer opportunities and candidate solutions, preventing solution-first jumps in continuous discovery.
Define Problem Statement
product-on-purpose/pm-skills
Creates a clear problem framing document with user impact, business context, and success criteria.
Deliver Acceptance Criteria
product-on-purpose/pm-skills
Generates structured Given/When/Then acceptance criteria for a user story or feature slice, covering the happy path, key failure scenarios, and non-functional expectations in testable form.
Deliver Launch Checklist
product-on-purpose/pm-skills
Creates a cross-functional pre-launch checklist covering engineering, design, marketing, support, legal, and operations readiness, with owners, dates, and go/no-go criteria so nothing is missed…
Related
Categories
Questions about Develop Design Rationale
What does Develop Design Rationale do?
Documents the reasoning behind design decisions including alternatives considered, trade-offs evaluated, and principles applied. Develop Design Rationale is an agent skill from product-on-purpose/pm-skills. Documents the reasoning behind design decisions including alternatives considered, trade-offs evaluated, and principles applied.
When should I use Develop Design Rationale?
Develop Design Rationale fits situations like: making significant UX decisions; aligning with stakeholders on design direction; preserving design context for future reference.
How do I install Develop Design Rationale in Claude Code?
Run `npx skills add product-on-purpose/pm-skills --skill develop-design-rationale -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/develop-design-rationale in product-on-purpose/pm-skills) into .claude/skills/develop-design-rationale in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.
How do I install Develop Design Rationale in Codex?
Run `npx skills add product-on-purpose/pm-skills --skill develop-design-rationale -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/develop-design-rationale in product-on-purpose/pm-skills) into .agents/skills/develop-design-rationale in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.
Can I use Develop Design Rationale in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?
Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add product-on-purpose/pm-skills --skill develop-design-rationale -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/develop-design-rationale, .gemini/skills/develop-design-rationale, .github/skills/develop-design-rationale and .opencode/skills/develop-design-rationale in your project.
What does Develop Design Rationale need to run?
SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Develop Design Rationale is instructions for the agent only.
Does Develop Design Rationale access the network?
SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.
Is Develop Design Rationale safe to install?
Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.
What licence does Develop Design Rationale use?
Develop Design Rationale is published under the Apache-2.0 licence (declared in SKILL.md). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.
How many tokens does Develop Design Rationale use?
About 1k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 4.1k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full. Its references folder adds about 3.4k tokens, read only when the agent opens those files.
What are the alternatives to Develop Design Rationale?
Skills that share tags, products or a category with Develop Design Rationale: PR Design Doc (OpenHands/OpenHands, 90k stars), Cto Advisor (Ibrahim-3d/orchestrator-supaconductor, 380 stars), Improve Codebase Architecture (ywwynm/EverythingDone, 144 stars) and Domain Modeling (brim-borium/spotify_sdk, 166 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.
Who maintains Develop Design Rationale?
product-on-purpose (a GitHub organization) maintains it in product-on-purpose/pm-skills, which has 715 GitHub stars. The repository holds 68 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 4, 2026.
Source: product-on-purpose/pm-skills on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.