In this example, I’ll break down the complex prompt provided into a more Persona-Based Prompting method. This style involves creating a fictional persona that embodies the target user or a specific role relevant to the prompt. By addressing the prompt to this persona, you can provide context, motivations, and needs that elicit more targeted and relevant responses from the AI model. We guide the AI model’s responses to reflect the unique insights, terminology, and approach of that character or professional, often creating a more tailored and relevant answer.
Use Cases:
- Simulating user interactions with a system.
- Generating creative content that resonates with a specific audience.
- Eliciting responses that consider the perspective and needs of a particular role.
- AI response is more aligned with how a specific expert or stakeholder might naturally approach the topic, enhancing realism and applicability.
Key Characteristics:
- Role Identification: The model takes on a defined character or professional role. Includes a detailed description of the persona’s characteristics, goals, and frustrations.
- Perspective-Specific: Responses reflect a unique perspective that aligns with the chosen persona. Addresses the persona directly in the prompt.
- Consistent Tone and Terminology: Language and style align with the persona’s expected knowledge and approach. Frames the prompt within the context of the persona’s needs and experiences.
Key Benefits:
- Enhanced Realism: Responses feel authentic and contextually appropriate.
- Specialized Insight: Persona brings in specific industry knowledge or viewpoint.
- Engaging and Relatable: Helps users relate to the answer as they might to an expert in real life.
Original Prompt
“I am designing a website and want to ensure a seamless user experience. Can you suggest 4 error prevention techniques that I should integrate into my design? Specifically, I want to prevent errors related to website loading latency and ensure that users have a clear understanding of the error and why it is happening. Please provide examples of how these techniques have been successfully implemented in other designs to improve user satisfaction.”
Workflows Using Persona-Based Prompting Style
Example 1
Step 1: Identify the target audience or role: In this case, the target audience is website designers who are concerned about user experience.
Step 2: Create a detailed persona:
“I have a persona that I want to use for our following conversation. Here are the details of this persona:
- Name: Sarah
- Occupation: UX Designer at a mid-size e-commerce company
- Experience: 5+ years in UX design
- Goals:
- Improve user satisfaction on the company website.
- Reduce error rates related to website performance.
- Create a seamless and enjoyable user experience.
- Frustrations:
- Dealing with user complaints about slow loading times.
- Seeing users abandon the website due to unclear error messages.
- Finding it difficult to implement effective error prevention techniques.”
Step 3: Rephrase the following prompt to address the persona directly:
“Sarah, you’re a UX designer working on an e-commerce website. You’re facing challenges with website loading latency and want to ensure users have a clear understanding of any errors they encounter. To enhance user satisfaction, consider these four error prevention techniques, along with examples of their successful implementation in other designs…”
Step 4: Expand and Include specific details from the persona’s profile to provide context:
“Sarah, with your 5+ years of experience in UX design, you know how frustrating it is for users to encounter errors, especially those related to slow loading times. Remember those user complaints and abandoned carts? Let’s focus on preventing those issues. Here are four error prevention techniques you can integrate into your e-commerce website design…”
Step 5: Refine the prompt again to elicit the desired response you’re looking for:
“Sarah, as a UX designer for a mid-size e-commerce company, you’re focused on improving user satisfaction. You’ve noticed that website loading latency is a major pain point for your users. To address this, I need you to suggest 4 error prevention techniques that provide clear explanations to users when errors occur. Drawing from your experience, provide examples of how these techniques have been successfully implemented in other e-commerce designs to reduce user frustration and improve their overall experience.”
By following this workflow and incorporating the persona of Sarah, the AI model is more likely to generate responses that are tailored to the needs and experiences of a UX designer, providing relevant and practical error prevention techniques.
Example 2
Step 1: Define the Persona and Their Perspective
To embody the Persona-Based Style, we’ll have the model take on the role of a User Experience (UX) Specialist with a strong background in web design and error prevention. This UX Specialist will draw on their professional expertise to provide suggestions tailored to real-world design challenges, with an emphasis on enhancing user satisfaction. The goal is to build an entire prompt from this thought process.
Step 2: Frame the Prompt with Persona Context
Build the prompt to provide context that clarifies the role and perspective of the UX Specialist. This setup encourages the model to respond as if it is directly offering professional advice from the persona’s point of view.
Persona-Based Prompt Rework
You are a seasoned UX Specialist with a background in web design, focusing on creating user-friendly, error-resistant experiences. You’ve helped numerous design teams implement effective error prevention techniques that not only enhance functionality but also boost user satisfaction by ensuring users understand issues when they arise. Drawing from your experience, provide a detailed response to the following query:
I am designing a website and want to ensure a seamless user experience. As an expert in UX, what are 4 key error prevention techniques you would recommend to help prevent errors, particularly those related to website loading latency? Please explain each technique and how it addresses latency issues or user error understanding, providing examples from your past projects or industry best practices to illustrate how these techniques have successfully improved user satisfaction in other designs.
Step 3: Expected Persona-Based Response
The AI model, responding as the UX Specialist, would provide practical and experience-driven suggestions with a focus on error prevention and user clarity. Here’s an example of how the response might begin to sound in the Persona-Based Style:
Sample AI Response (Persona-Based)
“As a UX Specialist, one of the most effective approaches I’ve used for preventing latency-related errors is implementing loading indicators and progress feedback. This technique not only prevents users from refreshing the page prematurely but also sets clear expectations. For instance, I recently worked with a team on a financial services site where users were given detailed progress bars during data-heavy operations, which reduced confusion and abandonment rates by 20%.”
Summary
These reworked Persona-Based prompts and workflows illustrate how Persona-Based Prompting can yield a tailored response that reflects the specialized insights of a UX Specialist. By stepping into a specific professional’s shoes, the model can deliver more contextually rich and nuanced advice, enhancing the realism and applicability of the response. Try this with different personas, maybe even try this topic with a ballet dancer persona and see what response you get. It will provide better insight of how the AI model uses this style and the persona given to generate the responses! Have fun!
About Lance Lingerfelt
Lance Lingerfelt is an M365 Specialist and Evangelist with over 20 years of experience in the Information Technology field. Having worked in enterprise environments to small businesses, he is able to adapt and provide the best IT Training and Consultation possible. With a focus on AI, the M365 Stack, and Healthcare, he continues to give back to the community with training, public speaking events, and this blog.
