Usability Test Protocol Agent Skill

Run a moderated usability session on a working prototype and return findings tied to the screen, not the user.

Context cost
10.5k tokensestimated from the bundle, loaded when it triggers
Bundle
13 files · 42.0 kBtext throughout, nothing executable
Licence
Apache-2.0the author’s own terms
Last change
—no release on file
Servers it uses
Noneruns standalone

What it does

Run a moderated usability session on a working prototype and return findings tied to the screen, not the user. Fires when a fellow says "run a usability test", "watch a user try it", "usability protocol", "can a first-time user complete X", or "see where they get stuck". Product runs, Engineering watches muted, Design notes; the task is framed as a goal not an instruction, the user is kept in user mode (no leading, no explaining, no "do you like it"), and every finding is scored on observed task success (behaviour 0.7), never stated preference (opinion 0.1).

What this skill changes about the agent has not been set out here as a list. Its SKILL.md, shown below, says it in the author’s own words.

design
Filed under

Design & Media

The skill itself

A skill is instructions the model reads, so you can see what you are getting: below is the start of its SKILL.md. The front matter loads with every session, the body loads when the skill triggers, and the whole file comes with the install.

SKILL.md15.9 kB · preview
--- name: usability-test-protocol type: interactive supersedes: none ---
8## What it does
9
10Compresses "does the design actually work" into a watched session with real target users. You write each task as a goal in the user's world, hand over the prototype, and go silent while they attempt it. Three people run it: Product moderates, Engineering (the builder) watches muted, Design scribes. The output is a Usability Findings sheet — every defect attributed to the step it happened on, counted across users, ranked by frequency × task-blocking. It scores on what the user did (completed / needed a nudge / failed), not on what they said they liked. It refuses to report preference as a finding, because a usability session cannot honestly observe it.
11
12## The Icarus reframe
13
14Generic usability testing recruits five users, gives them tasks, and notes where they struggle. That much Claude already knows. The Icarus edits are three. First, the builder does not run the session — Engineering watches muted, because the person who placed the button cannot resist explaining it, and one explanation contaminates every task after. Product runs (no ego in the pixels); the builder feels the wall directly instead of discounting it in a report. Second, the finding attaches to the prototype, not the person: "3 of 5 clicked Reports first" is a design fact (behaviour, 0.7), not three confused users. If a target-segment user cannot complete it, the prototype failed — never the user. Third, the session tests observed task success and quarantines opinion. "Do you like it" buys a 0.1 you will be tempted to report; the protocol bans the question and scores completion instead. A user who says "I love this" and fails the task has failed it.
15
16## When to use / When NOT
17
18Use it when you have a working prototype (clickable mock, v1, or the live product), a real target user, and the question is "can they do the job with this." Use it after first-mocks has produced something clickable and before you commit build effort to a flow you have not watched anyone use.
19
20Do not use it for:
21
22| If the fellow wants… | Use instead | Why not this skill |
23|---|---|---|
24| To build the clickable prototype itself | first-mocks | That produces the artefact; this runs a session on the artefact it produced. Same afternoon, opposite job. |
25| To shadow an expert and extract the judgment they can't articulate | tacit-knowledge-interview | That watches an expert do *their* real work to mine *their* expertise; this watches a target user attempt *your* task on *your* prototype to test *your* design. Same verb "watch", opposite object. |
26| To test a workflow on paper before it's clickable | paper-sketch-probe | That reads legibility and decision-location off a sketch; this measures task completion on a working prototype. |
This is a preview of SKILL.md. Download or install the skill to get the whole thing.
In the file
SKILL.md2,825 words
Files13
LicenceApache-2.0
Why you can read it

Nothing in a skill executes. The client loads the text and the model follows it, so a skill can be audited the way a runbook is — by reading it.

What it costs in context

Skills are not billed by the call. They are paid for in context: every token the instructions occupy is a token your code, your diff and your conversation cannot use. Here is what this one takes and when it takes it.

≈290
always loaded
The name and description, so the model knows the skill exists and when to reach for it.
10,210
on trigger
The instruction body and 12 supporting files, read only when the skill fires.
5.3%
of a 200k window
Ten skills this size would take about 53% of the window before you open a file.
050k100k150k200k context window

10.5k tokens, estimated from the bundle at four bytes to the token, held for the rest of the session once it triggers. Heavy. Teams tend to install this one per project rather than globally, and load it only when the job comes up.

Servers bill, skills cost

A server charges by the month. A skill charges once per session, in context, and then keeps charging it for as long as the session lives.

Before and after

The same question, put to the same model twice: once as it comes, and once with these instructions loaded.

No worked example has been published for this skill yet.

The procedure it runs

The procedure has not been set out here step by step. It is in the body of its SKILL.md: the start of it is shown above, and the whole file comes with the install.

Prose, not code

These steps are written for a model to follow, not executed by a runtime. It can still be told to skip one, and it will say so when it does.

Servers it uses

None. This skill calls no MCP servers at all.

Everything it needs is in the instructions, so it works in a project with nothing connected — the model reads the file and changes how it works with what it can already reach.

Its SKILL.md does not declare which tools it asks the agent for, so what it touches is whatever the instructions themselves ask for — read them before you install it.

What it asks for
Writes filesnot declared
Network accessnot declared

This SKILL.md carries no allowed-tools line, so neither is declared. A skill grants no permissions of its own — it can only ask for tools your client already has.

What it will not do

Every skill is narrow, and the useful ones say where they stop. These are the jobs this one is the wrong tool for.

What this skill is not for has not been published here. Nothing is implied by that: it is a section the author has not filled in.

What is in the bundle

13 files, 42.0 kB on disk. A bundle is text throughout: the instructions the model reads, plus the templates it fills in.

  • SKILL.md15.9 kB
  • template.md4.6 kB
  • examples/sample.md4.7 kB
  • tests/RESULTS.md6.2 kB
  • tests/rubric.json1.1 kB
  • tests/adversarial/01.md0.9 kB
  • tests/adversarial/02.md1.1 kB
  • tests/adversarial/03.md1.3 kB
  • tests/golden/01.md1.3 kB
  • tests/golden/02.md1.3 kB
  • tests/golden/03.md1.3 kB
  • tests/golden/04.md1.2 kB
  • tests/golden/05.md1.1 kB
What is not in it

No dependencies and nothing executable: a skill is text the agent reads, so the bundle is 13 files you can review in full before installing. The Apache-2.0 licence covers the templates and examples as well as the instructions.

Install

Installing copies the bundle into your project. Nothing runs at install time — the files sit on disk until the model reads them.

# Usability Test Protocol · 10.5k tokens when loaded · macOS, Linux mkdir -p .claude/skills && t=$(mktemp -d) && curl -fsSL -o "$t/bundle.tar.gz" https://mcprush.com/api/skills/usability-test-protocol/bundle.tar.gz && tar -xzf "$t/bundle.tar.gz" -C "$t" && [ -d "$t/usability-test-protocol" ] && { [ ! -e .claude/skills/usability-test-protocol ] || { mv .claude/skills/usability-test-protocol "$t/.previous" && echo "Previous copy moved to $t/.previous"; }; } && mv "$t/usability-test-protocol" .claude/skills/ && echo "Installed .claude/skills/usability-test-protocol"
On Windows, or any OS with Node 20+
npx mcprush@latest skill add the-utopia-studio/usability-test-protocol

Windows PowerShell says 'running scripts is disabled on this system'? Run Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser RemoteSigned once, or type npx.cmd instead of npx (codex.cmd, gemini.cmd, grok.cmd likewise). PowerShell 7 needs neither. Writes to .claude/skills/usability-test-protocol/ in the current project. For every project instead, run mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && t=$(mktemp -d) && curl -fsSL -o "$t/bundle.tar.gz" https://mcprush.com/api/skills/usability-test-protocol/bundle.tar.gz && tar -xzf "$t/bundle.tar.gz" -C "$t" && [ -d "$t/usability-test-protocol" ] && { [ ! -e ~/.claude/skills/usability-test-protocol ] || { mv ~/.claude/skills/usability-test-protocol "$t/.previous" && echo "Previous copy moved to $t/.previous"; }; } && mv "$t/usability-test-protocol" ~/.claude/skills/ && echo "Installed ~/.claude/skills/usability-test-protocol" (macOS, Linux) — or add --global to the npx line. The curl line replaces .claude/skills/usability-test-protocol/ only after the download succeeds, so files left there by another skill of the same name, or by an older release, do not mix in. A copy already there is moved aside, not deleted, and the line prints where.

Which clients pick it up on their own

A skill is a folder of text. Most of these read a skills folder and pick it up without being told; the rest take the same folder another way — an upload in the app, a parameter on an API call — and then choose it by its description just the same.

Claude Code.claude/skills/
Claude DesktopCustomize › Skills
ChatGPTSkills › Create › Upload
Cursor.cursor/skills/
VS Code.github/skills/
Codex CLI.agents/skills/
Gemini CLI.gemini/skills/
Grok Build.grok/skills/
Microsoft CopilotSkills › Upload a skill
PerplexityComputer › Skills › Upload a skill
DeepSeek Harness.dsh/skills/
Zed.agents/skills/
Devin Desktop.devin/skills/
Windsurf (legacy).windsurf/skills/
OpenAI Agents SDKInstructions or sandbox Skills
HTTP / APIa request parameter
This release
Versionnot versioned
Publishedno release date on file
PriceFree
Referencethe-utopia-studio/usability-test-protocol

Versions

Its author publishes no version number, so there is nothing here to pin to: what you install is the folder as it stands today. Instructions change more often than APIs do — a skill can be rewritten entirely without anything it depends on moving.

Pinning

Nothing to pin to: this skill carries no version number of its own. What you install is what the folder holds on the day you install it.

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