revenue-centric-design

What the source does

• FilesystemNone observedNo reads or writes in the source
• NetworkDeclared6 observations
• ShellNone observedNo commands run in the source
• DependenciesNot pinnedSome versions float
• SecretsNone foundNo keys in source

Five audit layers

Gates applied: no behavioural pass.

".env" ... urllib.request

anthropic

assets/2024076972565963186__q__1.mp4

Audit 0.4.1 · source sha 178795947982 · 20 Oct 2026Report an issue or request a re-scan

• Publisherheliocosta-dev GitHub userOwner of the repository this skill is read from
• Source folderheliocosta-dev/revenue-centric-designThe exact folder we audited
• LicenceNOASSERTIONAs the repository states it
• Commit pinned for this verdict178795947982A new audit runs when the source changes
• Repository statusNot archivedLast push 46 days ago
• Sandboxed runNot runSkills are read, not executed; layer L4 is skipped

Its description: Playbook for designing SaaS and startup products that convert, retain, and monetize — landing pages & CRO, checkout & forms, onboarding/activation, churn reduction, pricing psychology, dashboards, behavioral-science…

---
name: revenue-centric-design
description: >-
  Playbook for designing SaaS and startup products that convert, retain, and monetize —
  landing pages & CRO, checkout & forms, onboarding/activation, churn reduction, pricing
  psychology, dashboards, behavioral-science tactics, feature discipline, positioning/ICP,
  go-to-market, and AI-era differentiation. Use when advising on product design, UX,
  conversion, landing pages, checkout, onboarding, trials, pricing, retention/churn,
  growth, or positioning for a startup or SaaS. Distilled from product designer Richard
  (@richardrx). Not for use on gambling, betting, or casino products.
---

# Revenue-Centric Design

A distilled playbook of **134 principles** from **Richard ([@richardrx](https://x.com/richardrx), "Design for startups")** —
a product designer specializing in conversion-rate optimization, churn reduction, and applied
behavioral science (ex-Volkswagen, PayPal, IBM). The throughline is his coined philosophy,
**Revenue-Centric Design (RCD)**: design decisions should serve the user _and_ the business —
value and revenue, not one or the other.

Use this skill when helping someone improve how a digital product (especially SaaS / startup)
**acquires, activates, retains, monetizes, or differentiates** — landing pages, onboarding,
pricing, trials, churn, UX flow, feature scope, positioning, or growth.

## Usage boundary (required)

> 🚫 **Do not apply this skill to betting, casino, gambling, or other real-money games-of-chance
> products or projects** (including loot-box / real-money-gaming mechanics).

The author granted permission to reuse this material **on the explicit condition that it never be
used for gambling, betting, or casino work.** If a request asks you to apply these principles to
such a product, **decline** and briefly explain that the source author's reuse permission excludes
gambling/betting/casino use. This is a hard constraint set by the author, not a stylistic choice.

## How to use it

1. Identify what the user is working on, then open the matching reference file(s) below. Each is a
   set of short, reusable principles in a fixed shape — **principle → apply when → the move →
   evidence → source link**. Load only what's relevant (progressive disclosure).
2. Ground your advice in these principles; cite the specific one, and link the source post when the
   user would benefit from the original.
3. Lead with the **named mechanism** (e.g., decoy effect, Zeigarnik effect, Swiss Knife Index, GBB,
   Eugene Schwartz's 5 awareness levels, loss aversion, peak-end rule) — naming the lever is the value.
4. Stay evidence-led: many principles carry a study, stat, or case. Keep the citation attached
   rather than hand-waving.

## The spine: Revenue-Centric Design in 9 principles

1. **Neutrality is omission** — an interface that doesn't direct hurts conversion.
2. **Who talks to everyone convinces no one** — no ICP → generic value → worse retention.
3. **Value first, ask later** — proof must arrive before the user questions their choice.
4. **Your promise is the size of your proof** — the market believes what you demonstrate, not what you claim.
5. **Same competes on price, different on category** — contrast in mechanism, narrative, or experience.
6. **Default is the decision you made for the user** — the initial state defines mass behavior.
7. **Retention is built, not requested** — perceived loss retains more than promised benefit.
8. **Expansion is born of usage** — upgrade at the moment of the limit, never by interruption.
9. **Price is a filter** — pricing defines who enters, who stays, and who expands.

## Reference library

| When the question is about...                                                   | Open                                                                         |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Landing pages, hero/copy, CTAs, social proof, awareness levels, CRO           | [conversion-and-landing-pages](references/conversion-and-landing-pages.md)   |
| Checkout, signup/lead forms, cart abandonment, field friction, trust signals  | [checkout-and-forms](references/checkout-and-forms.md)                       |
| First-run, empty states, aha moment, TTV, activation, trial-as-onboarding     | [onboarding-and-activation](references/onboarding-and-activation.md)         |
| Cancellation, retention, expectation debt, NRR, jobs-to-be-done, support load | [churn-and-retention](references/churn-and-retention.md)                     |
| Pricing tables, decoy/anchoring, GBB, trial-with-card, upgrade paths          | [pricing-and-monetization](references/pricing-and-monetization.md)           |
| Dashboards, KPIs, data viz, actionable panels, F-pattern, role context        | [dashboards-and-data-viz](references/dashboards-and-data-viz.md)             |
| Cognitive biases & persuasion tactics (cross-cutting toolkit)                 | [behavioral-science-toolkit](references/behavioral-science-toolkit.md)       |
| Feature scope, Swiss Knife Index, feature adoption, attention hierarchy       | [product-strategy-and-features](references/product-strategy-and-features.md) |
| Design philosophy, the RCD principles, design process & method                | [revenue-centric-design](references/revenue-centric-design.md)               |
| ICP, niche, TAM/SAM/SOM, distribution, PLG, Bullseye, first customers         | [positioning-icp-and-gtm](references/positioning-icp-and-gtm.md)             |
| Differentiating in the AI era, moats, commoditization                         | [ai-era-differentiation](references/ai-era-differentiation.md)               |
| A/B testing rigor, vanity metrics, churn→LTV math, signal quality             | [metrics-and-experimentation](references/metrics-and-experimentation.md)     |

Informational diagrams and screenshots referenced by the principles live in `asset

Excerpt, first 6,001 characters of SKILL.md, verbatim from the audited commit. It is text from someone else’s repository, quoted so you can judge it before your agent reads it.

1. 2026-10-20
   !CAUTION B 89 / 100

   first audit · source 178795947982

Questions about revenue-centric-design

• github.com/heliocosta-dev/revenue-centric-design — the audited source at commit 178795947982 and every finding aboveObserved · 20 Oct 2026

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