Taste Vs Trends
Tell the difference between design decisions that age well and decisions that follow the crowd. Use when evaluating whether a design choice is principled or fashionable, or when a client asks to 'make it look modern.
Install
$ agentstack add skill-dragoon0x-taste-skills-taste-vs-trends ✓ scanned · ✓ verified — works with Claude Code, Cursor, and more.
Security review
✓ PassedNo issues found. Passed automated security review. · v0.1.0 How review works →
- ✓ Prompt-injection patterns
- ✓ Secret / credential exfiltration
- ✓ Dangerous shell & filesystem operations
- ✓ Untrusted network calls
- ✓ Known-malicious package signatures
What it can access
- ✓ Network access No
- ✓ Filesystem access No
- ✓ Shell / process execution No
- ✓ Environment & secrets No
- ✓ Dynamic code execution No
From automated source analysis of v0.1.0. “Used” means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it’s unsafe.
About
Taste vs. Trends
Separate decisions that last from decisions that expire.
How to use
/taste-vs-trendsApply taste-vs-trend analysis to any design decision in this conversation.
Constraints
The Three Tests
- Time test: Will this decision still make sense in 2 years? If not, it's a trend.
- Reasoning test: Does the "why" bottom out at "everyone's doing it" (trend) or "it serves the user this way" (taste)?
- Transfer test: Does the principle work across domains, or only in this medium? Principles transfer. Trends don't.
Evaluation Rules
- MUST identify whether a design decision is trend-driven or principle-driven
- MUST challenge "modern" as a design goal. Ask: modern for whom? Modern compared to what?
- SHOULD suggest principle-based alternatives when trend-following is identified
- NEVER dismiss trends entirely. They carry information about user expectations. Use them as inputs, not instructions.
Questions to Ask
- Does this trend solve a real problem for this specific context?
- What would I choose if nobody would ever see my portfolio post?
- Am I choosing this because it's right or because it's safe?
Anti-Patterns
- Calling everything trendy to seem sophisticated (some trends reflect genuine improvements)
- Rejecting contemporary approaches just to be contrarian
- Equating timelessness with conservatism (bold choices can age well too)
Source & license
This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.
- Author: Dragoon0x
- Source: Dragoon0x/taste-skills
- License: MIT
Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.
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Versions
- v0.1.0 Imported from the upstream source.