Review with Blocks
Critique a finished system design against the 7 building blocks and non-functional “-ilities”—flags wrong/missing/over-engineered pieces like a senior architect.
Overview
Review with Blocks is the critique counterpart to Design with Blocks from Systems Thinking Lab. It decomposes an existing design, rates load-bearing non-functional requirements (reliability, scalability, security, etc.) as holds / at-risk / gap, and surfaces the questions a senior would ask before you commit engineering time. Listed alongside Design with Blocks in Magier’s best Claude design skills guide for product/UX stacks that need architecture review, not just visual polish.
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Link
Installation guide
/plugin marketplace add kayashaolu/systemthinkinglab
/plugin install review-with-blocks@systemthinkinglabInvoke with `/review-with-blocks`.
How to use it
1. Have a design doc, PRD architecture section, or Design with Blocks output ready. 2. Run `/review-with-blocks` and point at that artifact. 3. Read holds / at-risk / gap ratings for each -ility and disputed blocks. 4. Revise the design before implementation; re-run until gaps are accepted or closed. 5. Hand the reviewed doc to eng as the build contract.
Example prompts
- “Review this architecture doc with Review with Blocks and list at-risk -ilities.”
- “Critique our Design with Blocks output—what did we over-engineer for v1?”
- “Rate scalability and security for this payments flow design.”
- “What questions would a senior ask before we approve this system design?”
Use cases and examples
- Pre-build architecture critiques
- Catch over-engineered MVP designs
- Senior-style review without a staff eng in the room
- Pair with design-with-blocks end-to-end
- Audit vendor/system proposals against the 7 blocks
Prerequisites
- Claude Code with plugin marketplace support
- A written system design to critique
- Optional: design-with-blocks installed for the paired workflow
Tips
- Run review before sprint commitment, not after UI is half-built.
- Treat “holds” as load-bearing confidence—don't re-litigate them casually.
- Keep findings in the design doc so future agents see the tradeoffs.
- Architecture review ≠ visual design review—pair with Playwright for UI.