Great breakdown on the pizza ordering analogy, Yash!
Your point about specificity really resonates. I'd add that effective prompts also benefit from what I call "scaffolding" - breaking complex requests into steps rather than expecting AI to juggle everything at once.
For example, instead of "Write a marketing campaign for my SaaS," try:
- "Analyze the pain points of small business owners managing inventory"
- "Create 3 buyer personas based on that analysis"
- "Now write email subject lines targeting persona #2's biggest frustration"
This approach gives AI clear guardrails and lets you course-correct at each stage rather than getting a kitchen-sink response that misses the mark.
The other game-changer I've found is asking AI to "think step-by-step" or "explain your reasoning." It's like having AI show its work. You get better outputs and can spot where the logic might be going sideways.
Your coffee example perfectly illustrates how tone and style constraints transform generic output into something with personality. Too many people treat AI like a search engine, when it's really more like a collaborative writing partner that needs clear creative direction.
Curious, what you've found works best for technical writing prompts vs. creative ones. Do you use different optimization strategies?