hypnotic-pattern

Design

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Source SKILL.md: https://github.com/Hmbown/Wizards-of-the-Ghosts/blob/HEAD/generated/hermes/influence-and-behavior/hypnotic-pattern/SKILL.md

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Hypnotic Pattern

Design attention-capture patterns that hold focus in a bounded context.

What This Skill Does

Hypnotic Pattern mesmerizes everyone who looks at it. The real-world version is attention design: loading animations, progress indicators, onboarding flows, and visual patterns that keep users oriented and engaged during a bounded experience. The line between helpful focus and addictive capture is the central design tension. In this grimoire, Hypnotic Pattern is treated as a metaphorical spell with a shipping-now delivery profile. Canonical reference input: Hypnotic Pattern (spell).

When To Use

A flow, onboarding sequence, or presentation needs better attention-holding mechanics.
Users are dropping off during a multi-step process and you need to understand why and how to keep them.

Prerequisites

No extra runtime dependencies beyond Hermes Agent and the normal toolset for this session.

Procedure

Restate the target, the success condition, and any no-touch boundaries before taking action.
Identify the experience and its attention drop-off points.
Design engagement patterns: progress indicators, micro-rewards, curiosity gaps, or visual anchors.
Map the boundary: when should the pattern release attention? Hypnotic Pattern has a duration, not an infinity.
Deliver the attention design with an explicit note on where engagement becomes compulsion.
Package the result as the deliverables below, with confidence, assumptions, and unresolved risk called out explicitly.

Deliverables

Attention-capture patterns tailored to the specific flow or experience.
A boundary specification: when the pattern should deliberately release the user's attention.

Pitfalls / Guardrails

Keep the metaphor anchored to a real mechanism instead of drifting into lore.
Distinguish attention-capture from addiction mechanics. This spell has a duration — it is not designed to hold attention indefinitely.
Refuse infinite scroll, autoplay-without-end, or engagement patterns designed to prevent the user from leaving.

Verification

Check that the result includes every deliverable promised above.
Check that confirmed facts, assumptions, and inferences are visibly separated.
Check that the metaphor still maps cleanly to a real operational mechanism.

Example Invocation

/hypnotic-pattern design attention-holding mechanics for this [flow/onboarding/presentation], with clear boundaries on when to let go