From rampstack-skills
Composes pages and sites to vertical-specific layout, density, and merchandising conventions so builds read as credible category members rather than generic SaaS pages.
How this skill is triggered — by the user, by Claude, or both
Slash command
/rampstack-skills:vertical-site-conventionsThe summary Claude sees in its skill listing — used to decide when to auto-load this skill
Compose pages and whole sites to the layout, density, and merchandising conventions that make a build read as a credible member of its vertical. Stack-agnostic. Works on any framework that can express server-rendered pages and component composition.
references/shape-b2b-manufacturer.mdreferences/shape-conventions-checklist.mdreferences/shape-directory-marketplace.mdreferences/shape-ecommerce-catalog.mdreferences/shape-ecommerce-standout.mdreferences/shape-hospitality-experience.mdreferences/shape-hospitality-food.mdreferences/shape-institution-mission.mdreferences/shape-inventory-listing.mdreferences/shape-local-service-booking.mdreferences/shape-subscription-app.mdCompose pages and whole sites to the layout, density, and merchandising conventions that make a build read as a credible member of its vertical. Stack-agnostic. Works on any framework that can express server-rendered pages and component composition.
This skill owns vertical-level composition: which modules go where, how dense the page is, how much of the catalog or offering is surfaced, and which paths the navigation serves. It routes the day-to-day visual decisions to design-standards, the aesthetic register to creative-direction, the site-structure modeling to information-architecture, and the component implementation to frontend-component-build. It does not duplicate any of them; it composes their outputs into a vertical-correct site.
It is the build-side counterpart to competitor-experience-audit. The audit measures the field on seven dimensions; this skill builds to those same seven, dimension by dimension. The two are deliberately structured as two sides of one standard so an experience bar produced by the audit maps one-to-one onto what this skill builds.
competitor-experience-audit (the audit-fed path is the intended use)design-standards)creative-direction, brand-archetype-system, brand-discovery)frontend-component-build)information-architecture)design-system)competitor-experience-audit; this skill consumes that audit's output, it does not produce it)ecommerce-catalog, inventory-listing, directory-marketplace, local-service-booking, subscription-app, hospitality-food, institution-mission, b2b-manufacturer, ecommerce-standout, hospitality-experience.competitor-experience-audit (the cross-site patterns and gaps for the vertical). If absent, the skill falls back to the per-shape default conventions in the references; the audit-fed path is stronger and is the intended use.creative-direction or already settled). This skill does not redefine them.If the site shape is unclear, ask. Building to the wrong shape's conventions produces a build that reads off-vertical, which is the exact failure this skill exists to prevent.
The framework mirrors the seven dimensions competitor-experience-audit measures. Each is expressed here as build guidance (what to do) rather than audit questions (what to observe). Run them in order; the synthesis in dimension 7 is the composition checklist that catches what the earlier six missed.
The visitor arrives with a primary job. The leaders in the vertical lead with that job; off-vertical builds bury it behind marketing copy or competing CTAs.
If the primary task cannot be the hero (a constraint from a stakeholder, a regulated vertical), surface the closest equivalent and document the compromise. Do not silently push the primary task below the fold.
Most off-vertical builds default to a generic SaaS-airy landing page. Retail and catalog verticals are denser; editorial verticals are calmer; hospitality is image-led. Build to the field's density, not to a default.
creative-direction and design-standards. This skill owns the density and module-count decision, not the visual register itself.Composition decision lives here. Visual register lives there. Do not redefine either; route to the right skill.
How much of the catalog or offering is surfaced at once, and in what shape, is a per-vertical decision the build must own.
Cross-reference information-architecture for the structural modeling of the nav tree. This skill owns the compositional surface; that skill owns the structural model.
Verticals differ on which path is primary. A catalog vertical needs both search and category browse, with search often primary. A hospitality-food site rarely needs search but always needs a menu and a reservation entry. Build to the paths the field actually offers, in the prominence the field gives them.
Route the structural nav modeling to information-architecture; route the search UX patterns to that skill or to the project's existing search component. This skill owns which paths exist and how prominent each is.
The brand register is set by creative-direction and brand-archetype-system. This skill does not redefine it. But composition decides whether the posture holds across the page or only in the hero.
Route the actual register choice and the voice attributes to creative-direction and brand-voice. Own the consistency requirement here.
Each vertical has a different set of trust signals it is expected to carry. A build that ships without them reads as not-yet-credible. Build them in.
The seventh dimension is the synthesis: the specific conventions a credible build in this vertical must have, named explicitly. Run this as a pre-ship checklist before declaring the composition done.
The synthesis is what catches builds that pass dimensions 1 through 6 individually but compose into something off-vertical anyway. Run it.
When competitor-experience-audit has run for the vertical, its output is the input to this skill. The audit's seven dimensions map directly onto this skill's seven, in order. Concretely:
Primary-task prominence pattern names what to build in this skill's dimension 1.Layout register and density pattern names the density target for dimension 2.Merchandising and category surface pattern names the surface shape for dimension 3.Primary navigation and search paths pattern names the path inventory for dimension 4.Brand register and conviction pattern names the register creative-direction should be working from, which this skill carries across the page in dimension 5.Trust and conversion signals pattern names the required signals for dimension 6.Recurring vertical conventions are the checklist for dimension 7.Gaps section names the positioning opportunity the build can exploit as its wedge.If no audit has been run, fall back to the per-shape reference files in references/. The default conventions there are derived from observable cross-site patterns and are honest, but a vertical-specific audit is stronger and is the intended path.
This skill owns one thing: vertical-level page and site composition. It routes everything else, and that routing discipline is what keeps it useful and what keeps the catalog clean.
design-standards.creative-direction and brand-archetype-system.information-architecture.frontend-component-build.design-system.competitor-experience-audit.seo-onpage and accessibility-audit.If a build decision sits inside one of those skills, do not restate the standard here. Link to the skill and let it own its territory.
competitor-experience-audit if run; the per-shape reference otherwise.references/shape-conventions-checklist.md. The notes are what frontend-component-build and design-standards read as the spec to implement against.frontend-component-build, design-standards, and the project's component library.When you spot one of these, push back before delivering.
creative-direction. This skill does not coin new register names or invent new voice attributes. If the question is what posture the brand takes, that is creative-direction's call.competitor-experience-audit has run for the vertical, the bar is the spec. Building to the per-shape default while ignoring the audit's bar is half a build.design-standards decisions. Module count, primary-task prominence, category-surface depth are this skill's decisions. Do not bleed across the line.Default output is a markdown set of composition notes at composition-[site-shape]-[brand-slug].md in the project root. Structure:
frontend-component-build, design-standards, and creative-direction need from these notes to implementKeep notes under 1500 words. The notes are a spec for the implementation skills; if they need more detail, that is a sign one of those skills should own the deeper specification.
references/shape-conventions-checklist.md - The per-dimension build checklist applied as a pre-ship review. Mirror of the audit's dimension checklist on the build side.references/shape-ecommerce-catalog.md - Default conventions for the ecommerce-catalog shape (first test case; auto-parts and similar dense storefronts).references/shape-inventory-listing.md - Stub; fill when the first inventory-listing demo is built.references/shape-directory-marketplace.md - Stub.references/shape-local-service-booking.md - Stub.references/shape-subscription-app.md - Stub.references/shape-hospitality-food.md - Stub.references/shape-institution-mission.md - Stub.references/shape-b2b-manufacturer.md - Stub.references/shape-ecommerce-standout.md - Stub.references/shape-hospitality-experience.md - Stub.npx claudepluginhub rampstackco/claude-skills --plugin rampstack-skillsAudits brand, UX, and site design of leading sites in a vertical to produce cross-site experience patterns and the design bar a new build must meet or beat.
Use when asked to design a landing page, marketing website, or any web presence intended to convert or inform. Examples: "design a landing page for X", "create a marketing site", "we need a homepage", "design our website", "build a page for our launch".
Guides phased design of landing pages and marketing websites: discovery questions on goals/audience/brand, written brief, then layouts for conversion. Activates on 'design a landing page' requests.