A good design prompt isn't a magic trick. It's a checklist you don't have to remember, run by something that never gets bored.
Start with the smallest version
Ask for the reasoning, then the result. When the model shows its steps you can see exactly where to push back.
- Save the prompt that worked so the next person reuses it
- Lower the reading level, then check what broke
- Compare two outputs instead of trusting one
Generate options, not answers
Treat the first output as a draft, not a verdict. The prompt does the typing; you keep the judgment about what ships.
- Compare two outputs instead of trusting one
- Save the prompt that worked so the next person reuses it
- Name the audience and the single goal before you generate
Keep a negative list
Lock the parts that never change and leave one slot for the variable. Now every run shares a family resemblance instead of starting from scratch.
Write down what you never want as explicitly as what you do. The exclusions often do more work than the instructions.