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The ultimate prompt guide for designers

The ultimate prompt guide for designers

$0 playbook of prompts to finish hours of work in minutes.

Felix Lee's avatar
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Felix Lee
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Avani
Jul 01, 2025
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ADPList’s Newsletter
ADPList’s Newsletter
The ultimate prompt guide for designers
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Hey there! This is a 🔒 subscriber-only edition of ADPList’s newsletter 🔒 designed to make you a better designer and leader. Members get access to exceptional leaders' proven strategies, tactics, and wisdom. For more: Get free 1:1 advisory | Become an ADPList Ambassador | Become a sponsor | Submit a guest post

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Friends,

This is a really important post (yes, I don’t say this lightly).

If you're a designer, there's a good chance you've already used ChatGPT to brainstorm ideas, write UX copy, create user personas, or even do a quick accessibility check. And if you haven’t yet... You probably will soon.

What aren’t we using AI for these days?

But here’s the thing: how many of us actually know how to write a prompt that works the best? Be honest, typing stuff like “make this screen better” or “give me UX ideas” isn’t gonna get you very far.

To understand how we can get the best from every prompt we create, we conducted research and asked designers to share some of their favorite or most frequently used prompts.

Today, we will share examples of some of the best design prompts. Pick one that clicks with you & honestly, you might be surprised by just how good they are.

Today’s prompt library will include well-kept secrets like:

  1. User persona prompt

  2. Usability testing prompt

  3. Wireframe design prompt

  4. User interview questions prompt

  5. Information architecture prompt

  6. A/B testing ideas prompt

  7. User journey prompt

  8. Accessibility checklist prompt

  9. AI-powered chatbot flow prompt

  10. Interaction design prompt

  11. Journey map generation

Let’s dive in…


How to write a perfect prompt.

First things first — let’s nail down how to write a solid prompt.

After using AI for almost 2 years now, it’s clear that AI is only as smart as the way you talk to it. It’s not a mind-reader, it’s a collaborator. And just like you wouldn’t give vague feedback to a junior designer, you shouldn’t give vague instructions to a model either.

A solid prompt = context + clarity + goal.
Think of it like a mini creative brief.

Image
Credit @benhylak

Here’s a quick breakdown:

  • Context is everything → What are you designing? Who is it for? Is this a mobile onboarding flow or a B2B dashboard? The more specific you are, the better the output.

  • Define the format you want → Need bullet points? A table? A Figma-ready wireframe description? Say that upfront. Otherwise, it’ll guess — and often guess wrong.

  • Set the tone or constraints → Want the UX copy to sound playful? Need it in under 30 characters? Want it to follow Material Design principles? Drop that in.

  • Give examples when you can → If you liked something you saw on Duolingo or Airbnb, mention it. Reference always helps.

Here’s a simple prompt transformation:

❌ “Give me onboarding screen ideas”
✅ “I’m designing a mobile onboarding experience for a meditation app targeting Gen Z. Give me 3 screen ideas with calming UX copy and short CTA text (under 20 characters), following iOS Human Interface Guidelines.”

See the difference?

The better your prompt, the less time you’ll spend tweaking the output later. And once you get the hang of it, AI becomes way more than a helper.

And personally, I love this list from

Lenny Rachitsky
.

High-level prompt cheat sheet:

Image
Source: Lenny's Newsletter

11 powerful prompts you need as a designer

Now, coming to the main point.

Here are some of the prompts we love using and have found actually helpful as designers. These aren’t vague “help me design an app” type of prompts; they’re specific, actionable, and designed to plug directly into your workflow. Whether you're trying to name a feature, generate UX copy that doesn't sound like it was written by a robot, or brainstorm onboarding flows for a niche product, these prompts will give you a head start.

  • Copy them, tweak them, bookmark them.

  • Use them as is or let them inspire your own.

And if you’ve some more on your list, we’d love to know. Just leave a comment below.)

1. User persona prompt

“I’m working on a [brief description of your product/service and what it helps users do]. Create a detailed user persona for a typical [target audience or user type] who would use this product. Include key demographics, goals, daily behaviors, motivations, frustrations, and any relevant tech habits or product expectations.”

This gives the AI a clear sense of:
- What the product does
- Who is it for
- What kind of insight you need back

You can even guide the tone by asking for the persona to sound “realistic and grounded” or “ideal for pitching to stakeholders.”
→ If you already have a feature list or a basic product concept, include that too. It helps the AI paint a more accurate picture of your user.

2. Usability testing prompt

“I’m designing a usability test for [product or specific feature] — for example, a [describe briefly what the feature does]. The product is a [website/app] primarily used by [type of user — e.g., 'first-time freelancers,' 'HR managers in mid-sized companies,' or 'students with ADHD'].

Create a detailed usability test plan that includes:

- Testing objectives (what exactly we’re trying to learn)
- Participant criteria (who should we test with?)
- Scenarios and key tasks (realistic use-cases participants should walk through)
- Session structure (time, intro, think-aloud protocol, follow-up questions)
- Success metrics (completion rates, time-on-task, errors, qualitative insights)
- Tools we could use for remote vs in-person testing

→ If possible, mention the type of device (mobile or desktop), the user’s level of familiarity with similar tools, and what you’re most curious about (e.g., “Do users understand the budget summary without guidance?”).
You can even follow up with, “Now rewrite this in a Notion doc format,” or “Make this beginner-friendly,” and boom, you’ve got something ready to ship!

3. Wireframe design prompt

“Create a detailed description of a wireframe layout for the [page name — e.g., 'Dashboard', 'Checkout Page', 'Onboarding Screen'] in our [product name or type — e.g., 'mental health tracking app', 'eCommerce platform', 'SaaS dashboard for project management'].

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