Guide 2 · Prompting: getting good work out of AI

Good prompting isn't magic words. It's giving a capable stranger what they need to do a good job.

Its habits, and what to do about them

Its habit	What to do
It does more than you asked (you ask for a button, you get three files and a settings page)	Ask for a plan first, and the simplest version
It fills gaps by inventing (facts, links, numbers)	"If you don't know, say so. Don't guess."
It agrees with you	"What's the strongest argument against this?"
It's confident when it's wrong	Check the real thing (Guide 5)

How to ask

Say what you want, who it's for, and what "done" looks like.
- Weak: "Make a booking app."
- Better: "A one-page app where a café owner pastes a booking request and sees the date, time and party size pulled out, with a button to confirm. Done = it works on these three example messages." (Unrelated example.)
Plan first. "Don't build anything yet. Tell me what you'll make, what you won't touch, and how we'll check it works." Push back, then say go.
Start small. One simple version working end to end, then add to it. For anything visual, get one screen made first and look at it before it builds the rest.
One change at a time, then check it.
Show, don't describe. Screenshots of what's wrong. The whole error message. A real example of the input.
Ask it to explain. "Explain that like I've never coded." You should understand what you've built.
Ask for a report after a chunk of work: what changed, how it was checked, what it couldn't check.

The thinking is yours. The organisers' brief asks you to use AI to build, not to think for you. Use AI to find holes in your plan, but bring the ideas yourself.

Prompts worth stealing

"Before you start, ask me any questions that would change what you build."
"What's the simplest way to do this? Don't add anything I didn't ask for."
"Only change X. Don't rewrite anything else."
"This has failed twice. Stop patching. What might be wrong with the approach?"
"Show me how you know that."