Vague vs. specific prompts

You asked an AI for something. It gave you something else.

Has that happened to you?

The cause may be a vague request.

“Vague” means it is not clear what you want.

A “prompt” is the message you send to the AI.

日本語版: 曖昧プロンプトと具体プロンプトの違い

THE PROBLEM

“Change the color” is not enough

Say you are making a web page for a small bakery.

You want the heading text to be orange.

But you only tell the AI: “Change the color.”

The AI cannot see your screen.

It does not know what to change, or to which color.

So it guesses, and decides for you.

COMPARE

Add one line, and the answer changes

The usual request Change the color.

With one more line Change the color. Make only the heading text orange. Keep everything else the same.

A poor answer (example)

I changed the page background to blue.

The heading text is still black.

The answer after one more line (example)

I made only the heading text orange.

I did not change the background or the other text.

These answers are examples made for this guide.

Real answers change by AI tool, and each time you ask.

WHAT WAS MISSING?

Three things were missing

Where? The heading text (not the whole page)
What to do? Make it orange
What to keep? The background and the other text

With these three, the AI does not have to guess.

A longer request is fine.

Add one short line at a time.

In CodeDrill, this is the Specificity axis.

Each axis is marked Good, OK or Weak.

If the answer is still off, make Specificity the one axis to check next.

IT HAPPENS ELSEWHERE TOO

The same thing happens in spreadsheets and chat

A spreadsheet table

The usual request Make this table look nicer.

With one more line Make this table look nicer. Add a comma every three digits in the price column only. Keep everything else the same.

A chat message

The usual request Write a thank-you message.

With one more line Write a thank-you message. It is for an older member of my school club. Keep it to three lines, and not too casual.

Both better requests say “where” and “what to do.”

A FORM YOU CAN USE

Fill in three blanks before you ask

Fill in these three lines, then send them to the AI.

[Where]
[What to do]
[What to keep]

Filled in (the web page color)

[Where] The heading text
[What to do] Make it orange
[What to keep] The background and the other text

Want a fuller template, with input and output? See the all-purpose template (recipe #03).

Paste your instruction, and we will point out one weak spot.

Start with a 3-minute try.

Start the 3-minute try See all problems Open Prompt Maker