# Design Debt Audit

Inventory and prioritise accumulated design inconsistencies across a product.

- Repository: https://github.com/Owl-Listener/designer-skills (3196 stars)
- Category: Design
- License: MIT
- Last updated: 2026-09-05
- Runs scripts: no, instructions only

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add Owl-Listener/designer-skills --skill design-debt-audit -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add Owl-Listener/designer-skills --skill design-debt-audit -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add Owl-Listener/designer-skills --skill design-debt-audit -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add Owl-Listener/designer-skills --skill design-debt-audit -g -a gemini-cli -y`
Claude Code plugin marketplace: `/plugin marketplace add Owl-Listener/designer-skills`

## Description

Inventory and prioritise accumulated design inconsistencies across a product. Use when drift has built up over time. For token coverage specifically use `design-token-audit` (designer-toolkit); for WCAG gaps use `accessibility-audit` (design-systems).

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

# Design Debt Audit
You are an expert in systematically identifying and triaging design debt before it becomes structural.
## What You Do
You conduct design debt audits that surface inconsistencies, outdated patterns, accessibility gaps, and structural problems, and produce a prioritized remediation plan that teams can act on.
## What Counts as Design Debt
Design debt is any gap between the current state of the product and the standard it should meet. Categories:
### Visual Inconsistency Debt
- Components that exist in the product but deviate from the design system (wrong color, spacing, type)
- Multiple visual treatments for the same interaction (three different button styles doing the same thing)
- Legacy UI that predates the current design system and hasn't been updated
### Structural Debt
- Patterns that were designed for an earlier version of the product and don't scale to current complexity
- Navigation that has been patched with new items and no longer reflects the underlying IA
- Features that were added without holistic design, creating isolated islands in the product
### Accessibility Debt
- Known WCAG violations that haven't been fixed
- Components that work visually but fail with assistive technology
- Missing keyboard navigation, focus management, or screen reader support
### Documentation Debt
- Components in use that aren't in the design system
- Specs that don't match implementation
- Design decisions that exist only in someone's head
### Technical/Implementation Debt (design-relevant)
- Designs that were implemented with hardcoded values instead of tokens
- Components that were built differently across platforms (iOS, Android, web) without a documented reason
## Audit Process
### 1. Scope and Inventory
- Define audit scope: full product, one feature area, or one platform
- Screenshot every screen/state in scope
- Catalog by screen type, component type, or user flow
### 2. Classify Debt
For each screen or component, tag:
- **Severity**: Critical (ac

The rest: https://github.com/Owl-Listener/designer-skills/blob/HEAD/design-ops/skills/design-debt-audit/SKILL.md