How to help users articulate their intents strategically
One of the most persistent problems in AI products today is this: people still aren’t sure what these systems are capable of, or how to get the best out of them.
This is because most AI tools still greet users with a single blank box and a placeholder as vague as it is open-ended: “Ask anything.”
The result? Without clear guidance, users start crafting prompts in haste, iterate through endless revisions, lose control of the flow, and gradually pollute the context with fragmented instructions.
To improve the quality of AI output, clarity must start at the very beginning — in the way we express intent. A good prompt isn’t just a line of text, it’s the source code of collaboration.
That’s why we need prompt-building interfaces that are designed not merely to receive instructions, but to shape them. They help users understand the product’s potential while progressively clarifying their own goals through interaction.
This article looks at how we can design such interfaces through real examples and…