Prompts should be designed — not engineered

🌈 Abstract

The article discusses the importance of design in the era of AI, particularly in the context of prompt engineering. It highlights how AI technology, while seemingly "magical," still requires careful design to be truly effective and valuable.

🙋 Q&A

[01] The Importance of Design in the AI Era

1. What is the author's key message about the role of design in the AI era?

• The author argues that design is critical in the AI era, as simply connecting a foundational model's API to an application is not enough to unlock its full potential. Careful design is necessary to create usable and valuable AI experiences.
• The author emphasizes that without design, the next wave of AI applications will be "brittle little things that waste an organization's precious AI resources."

2. How does the author differentiate between traditional software engineering and prompt engineering?

• In traditional software engineering, the desired outcome can be achieved by pinpointing the necessary lines of code.
• In prompt engineering, the author cannot predict how the model will respond to the prompts crafted. Instead of direct programming, the designer is "steering the model towards the outcomes we aim for."
• This is why an iterative prompt design process is required, where the designer continuously designs and refines based on user and model insights.

3. What are the key steps in the author's iterative prompt design process?

• The author outlines six categories to structure the prompt design process: occasion, style, goal, examples, guidelines, and flow.
• The process involves continuously designing, testing, and refining the prompts based on user and model feedback to steer the model towards the desired outcomes.

[02] The Importance of Designers in the AI Era

1. What is the author's view on the role of designers in the AI era?

• The author argues that companies need design more than ever in the AI era, as no one is going to wait for designers to become valuable.
• The author emphasizes that the discipline of prompt engineering is still in its infancy, with best practices yet to be discovered, and designers have a crucial role to play in this process.

2. How does the author address the potential for "imposter syndrome" among designers in the AI era?

• The author acknowledges that no one has all the answers, and that everyone is trying to figure it out as they go. The author encourages designers to remember that they are valuable in the AI era, even if they don't have all the answers.