Prompting for Design, Minus the Hype

You don't need a hundred design prompts. You need five you trust and actually reuse.

Make the output reviewable

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.

Start with the smallest version

Treat the first output as a draft, not a verdict. The prompt does the typing; you keep the judgment about what ships.

• Have the model flag what it could not cover
• Keep one ask per prompt — chaining beats cramming
• Ask for three angles, then cut to the one worth shipping

Ask for the reasoning, then the result. When the model shows its steps you can see exactly where to push back.