Beginner Steps. Advanced AI.
Published guideUpdated
Chapter 11 of 20Plan
Choose your website’s look
Pick a clear visual style. Review a Home-page sketch on a laptop and a phone before building it.
Use your real words. Good design makes them easy to understand.
Follow the pictures
Illustrated examples. Your app may look different. Tap an image to enlarge it.
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Collect a few references
Choose two or three pages using design planning guidance. Note what you like in docs/design-direction.md.
Illustrated example - Collect
- Two or three references → Specific notes → docs/design-direction.md
Look for: Notes on qualities you like, rather than instructions to copy a site.
More help with this action
Collect two or three reference pages using MDN's design planning guidance. Describe specific qualities you like and save URLs and notes to docs/design-direction.md.
Step by step
- Save the URLs of two or three pages you admire.
- Write specific notes: heading size, clear navigation, colours, spacing, or image style.
- Create your own composition and use assets you have permission to publish.
You should now see: Notes on qualities you like, rather than instructions to copy a site.
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Ask for two directions
Send the visual-direction prompt using website-design. Ask for two options with your actual Home text and contact action.
Illustrated example - Codex
- Copy prompt → Two design options → Compare
Look for: Two practical options using your real content.
More help with this action
Use the visual-direction prompt to invoke website-design. Ask for two directions based on your actual Home heading, services, and contact action.
Step by step
- Open the linked prompt, copy it, and paste it into your project chat.
- Name the website-design skill and ask Codex to read the brief, sitemap, content, and architecture.
- Ask for two practical directions rather than many unrelated styles.
You should now see: Two practical options using your real content.
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Review laptop and phone sketches
Compare Home sketches at both sizes using accessible layout guidance. Can you find the offer and contact action?
Illustrated example - Review
- Laptop sketch → Phone sketch → Offer and contact
Look for: Both sizes explain the business and make contact easy to find.
More help with this action
Review laptop and phone Home wireframes with accessible layout guidance in mind. Check the first impression, services, and contact action; a sketch is sufficient to resolve structure.
Step by step
- Use your actual heading, services, and contact action in the sketches.
- Look at the first screen of both versions: is the offer clear?
- Check that mobile rearranges content sensibly rather than shrinking the desktop layout.
You should now see: Both sizes explain the business and make contact easy to find.
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Save the design choices
Choose one option. Record colours, fonts, spacing, buttons, and image style using design planning guidance.
Illustrated example - Save
- Chosen option → Colours · Type · Space · Buttons → Design notes
Look for: A small set of choices Codex can reuse across every page.
More help with this action
Choose one direction and record colours, fonts, sizes, spacing, content width, buttons, and image style. Use design planning guidance to keep the choices small and reusable.
Step by step
- Choose one direction and tell Codex why it fits the brief.
- Record the colours, font choices and sizes, spacing, content width, buttons, and image style.
- Keep the choices small and reusable; save them in docs/design-direction.md.
You should now see: A small set of choices Codex can reuse across every page.
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Include accessible behavior
Check readability, keyboard focus, and motion. Plan clear links, comfortable controls, and reduced-motion support.
Illustrated example - Check
- Readable text → Visible focus → Comfortable controls → Reduced motion
Look for: Accessibility choices are included before implementation.
More help with this action
Apply W3C accessible design guidance: readable contrast, visible keyboard focus, clear link text, comfortable controls, and restrained motion that respects reduced-motion preferences.
Step by step
- Check readable text contrast and clear link wording.
- Include a visible focus outline for keyboard users and comfortably sized controls.
- Keep movement restrained and respect reduced-motion preferences; record these decisions.
You should now see: Accessibility choices are included before implementation.
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Get a fresh pair of eyes
Ask someone to review the concept. Fix unclear content, then approve the direction in docs/design-direction.md.
Illustrated example - Review
- Business clear? → Offer clear? → Next action clear? → Update notes
Look for: A reader understands the business, offer, and next action.
More help with this action
Apply visitor feedback principles when reviewing the concept. Check whether the business, offer, and next action are clear; update docs/design-direction.md before approving implementation.
Step by step
- Ask someone unfamiliar with your business what the page offers and what they would do next.
- Note confusing language, missing answers, or a hard-to-find contact action.
- Update docs/design-direction.md before approving implementation.
You should now see: A reader understands the business, offer, and next action.
Why this step matters
Design combines hierarchy, readability, navigation, imagery, and visual identity. A consistent type scale and spacing system usually help more than a pile of decorative effects. Fieldnotes Studio's practice direction is calm and editorial: warm neutral surfaces, dark readable text, one restrained accent, and generous but purposeful space.
A wireframe is a rough arrangement of content. A visual concept adds typography, colour, and imagery. Both are decisions you can discuss before the agent spends time implementing them. Design references are useful for explaining qualities you admire; create your own composition and use assets you have permission to use.
Basics, explained
Wireframe
A simple sketch showing where content and controls belong before visual styling is final.
Visual hierarchy
The arrangement of size, spacing, and emphasis that tells a reader what matters first.
Design system
A reusable set of choices and elements, such as colours, typography, spacing, buttons, and navigation.
Responsive design
A layout that adapts to the available screen space, including phones and larger displays.
Ask your agent
PromptExplore the design
Use the website-design skill and read our brief, sitemap, content, and architecture. Propose two distinct but practical visual directions for Fieldnotes Studio. Explain the hierarchy and create readable Home wireframes for laptop and phone widths using our actual copy. Include colour, typography, spacing, keyboard focus, image use, and reduced-motion decisions. Save the selected direction in docs/design-direction.md after my feedback. Do not implement the full site yet. If something goes wrong
- The concept looks attractive but the message is unclear.
- Replace the vague heading with a concrete description of the offer and make the contact action easy to recognise. Review again using your actual text.
- The phone version squeezes the desktop layout into a narrow column.
- Ask for a deliberate mobile arrangement: readable headings, adjusted spacing, simplified navigation, and images that preserve their subject.
Official links & further reading
Personal notes
Add questions, decisions or ideas for your website. Saved in this browser when available; export your notes to keep a copy. Never enter secrets.
Downloads & saved progressGuide, notes and personal checks
Download the complete guide or export your notes from every chapter. Instructions last reviewed: .
Checks and notes stay in this browser, separately for each language. Export your notes to preserve them. Never enter API keys or other secrets here.
NotesNotes as Markdown
Clipboard access is unavailable. Copy the visible, selected text below using your keyboard or browser menu.
0 of 65 checks marked across the guide
These are your saved personal checkmarks. They do not run tests or verify security, and are separate from the chapter position bar above.
Starter filesWorking instructions and four skills
These templates give your agent a starting set of working instructions. Review them, adapt them to your website, and save each file at the exact path shown, relative to your project folder.
A downloaded skill is an instruction file. It does not install a test runner, run a security scan, or prove your site is safe. The guide shows how to set up and check that work.
Download the instruction files in the language of this guide. Keep the technical filenames and paths as shown.
Download all starter filesFileAGENTS.md
# Website working agreements
This project follows the website brief and acceptance criteria we have agreed with its owner. Use the existing technology choices unless a concrete requirement calls for a change.
## How to work
- For a substantial feature, explain the proposed changes and verification plan before implementing it. Complete authorized local work in small, reviewable stages.
- Read the files relevant to the task. Keep unrelated pages and configuration intact.
- Explain new technical terms in plain language when reporting to the owner.
- Use the repository's website-design, clean-code, website-testing and website-security skills when their workflows apply.
- Record important decisions and unresolved content in the project's notes. Do not invent business facts, endorsements or publishing rights.
## Verification
- Inspect package.json to find the actual build, type-check and test commands. Do not invent a successful check or create a meaningless test just to make a command pass.
- Run checks appropriate to the change. Local tests use disposable fixtures and have no production access; run them and repair failures caused by the requested change without asking at every step.
- Verify visitor interactions in a browser when browser tools are available. Report checks that remain unavailable or incomplete.
- Show the owner a working local preview and summarise changed behaviour, evidence and remaining limitations.
## Credentials and publication
- Keep API keys and other secrets out of browser code, prompts, logs and Git. Store local secrets in ignored files or the chosen secret store.
- Local build and test work is authorized. Publishing the site, sending a real message, processing a payment or changing production data requires the owner's authorization for that action.
- Preserve a recoverable working version before release. Describe how to restore it.
These are starter agreements for a new tutorial project. Adapt them to the owner's actual requirements and existing authorization.
File.agents/skills/website-design/SKILL.md
---
name: website-design
description: Develop or refine a website's visual direction and responsive interface from its brief, content and existing design. Use for page design or visual implementation.
---
Read the website brief and any existing design notes relevant to the requested page. Work within the user's brand, content and technology choices.
When establishing a new direction, propose typography, a small colour palette, a spacing rhythm and a sample page. Explain how these choices support the audience and main visitor action. Use real content to judge hierarchy and line lengths.
Implement reusable elements for navigation, headings, buttons and repeated content. Give primary actions a clear visual hierarchy. Preserve visible keyboard focus, readable contrast and usable labels. Design narrow screens alongside desktop screens; check long headings, navigation and tap targets in a browser.
Use semantic HTML before adding custom interaction. Keep motion optional and respect reduced-motion preferences. Use assets with known permission to publish; record their sources. Do not invent client testimonials, achievements or business facts.
Before expanding a design across all pages, show the first complete page at desktop and mobile widths. Describe the main design decisions and any unresolved content. When a browser tool is unavailable, report that visual verification is still pending.
File.agents/skills/clean-code/SKILL.md
---
name: clean-code
description: Implement or refactor website code into understandable components using the project's existing stack and conventions. Use for website implementation or maintainability work.
---
Read the relevant files and package scripts before choosing an implementation. Preserve working behaviour outside the requested change. Prefer the existing stack and dependencies when they meet the need.
Keep page content separate from repeated layout where that makes editing easier. Name components, variables and functions for their purpose. Use shared components for repeated navigation and page elements; avoid abstraction for a single trivial use.
Handle empty, invalid, loading and error states for interactions that need them. Use native browser controls and semantic HTML when they serve the interaction. Avoid fake form submission, simulated success messages and dead links.
Use type checking and the project's formatting or lint rules where configured. When adding a package, explain its purpose and any new maintenance or runtime requirements. Keep generated build output, dependencies and local environment files out of version control.
Run the existing checks relevant to the change, including a production build when output can change. Summarise changed behaviour, verification results and remaining limits. Explain the main files in plain language so a beginner can find and edit their content.
File.agents/skills/website-testing/SKILL.md
---
name: website-testing
description: Verify website changes through visitor journeys, appropriate automated tests and browser checks. Use when testing a website, investigating a failure or preparing a release.
---
Start from the brief and observable acceptance criteria. Inspect existing test and build commands; do not assume that a script exists. Choose checks based on the changed behaviour and the cost of failure.
Exercise the main visitor journey and affected links, navigation and forms. Include invalid input and relevant error states. For a contact form, verify actual delivery in the agreed test destination before reporting that it works. For an email link, explain that it opens the visitor's configured email app and does not send a message automatically.
Check narrow and wide screens in a browser. Include keyboard navigation, visible focus, accessible names, zoom and horizontal overflow. Automated accessibility results complement these manual checks and do not establish complete accessibility conformance.
Add automated tests for important behaviour or demonstrated regressions. Test observable outcomes and meaningful failure cases; avoid tests that merely repeat the implementation or match incidental wording. Use disposable test data and local fixtures. Never send real messages, charge payments or alter production data without the user's authorization.
Reproduce a failure, fix its cause and rerun affected checks. Report commands run, results, browser checks performed and anything not checked. A successful build shows that the site can be generated; verify visitor behaviour separately. Never report a check as passed when it was skipped or unavailable.
File.agents/skills/website-security/SKILL.md
---
name: website-security
description: Review a website's secrets, dependencies, inputs, permissions and deployment configuration, and repair scoped security findings. Use for requested security review or release preparation.
---
Identify the site's relevant surfaces: static pages, forms, backend routes, authentication, third-party scripts and stored data. Scope review to the actual architecture and authorized environment.
Keep credentials out of browser code, logs, prompts and Git. Distinguish build-time public configuration from server secrets. If a key was committed or exposed, stop using it, explain that deleting the file does not revoke the key, and have the owner revoke or rotate it before further use. Do not print the credential in your report.
Inspect applicable dependency advisories and assess whether the affected package and vulnerable behaviour are used. Repair within the project's compatible versions and rerun affected checks. Avoid automatic forced upgrades that may break the website.
For backend interactions, validate inputs on the server, encode output appropriately, and check authentication and authorization separately. Consider abuse controls for public forms or AI endpoints. An OpenAI API key belongs on the server; publishing a static site does not provide a secret server environment.
Check HTTPS and applicable security headers at the actual hosting layer. Collect only the data the feature needs, and explain its destination and retention. Do not claim legal compliance from a code scan.
Report each finding with its location, plausible impact, fix and verification. State review scope, tools used, unresolved findings and inaccessible surfaces. A clean scan is evidence about that scan's scope, not a guarantee that the website has no vulnerabilities. Do not scan third-party systems or deploy changes outside the authorized task.