I asked AI how it could help when designers don’t know where to begin
Get unstuck: 5 AI prompts to help you think and move forward.
This week, I’ve been thinking about how AI could actually help designers in early moments, where you’re staring at a blank page and have no idea where to begin. Maybe the brief is vague, or the direction just doesn’t feel clear yet.
So instead of assuming what ChatGPT could do, I asked it directly, “how can you actually help a product designer at the very beginning, when things feel unclear?” And I didn’t stop there. I kept going, asking why that help is useful, when exactly to use it, and how to stay aware so we don’t just take every suggestion at face value.
I’ve curated and edited the conversation into five prompts I found genuinely helpful. Here they are, in the words of AI itself*.
I/Me = 🤖
*I was a bit self-conscious anthropomorphizing AI, something I haven’t thought much about before, but hey I took it as a fun way to shape my writing.
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1. Start with a feeling
Begin with what feels off.
Sometimes you can’t describe the problem clearly, but you can feel that something isn’t right. Instead of asking, “How do I fix this?” try something like, “Something feels clunky here, what could it be?” You don’t need the perfect question to start. Let the feeling guide the exploration.
💡 Why This Is Useful:
It gives you a way in when the brief is unclear or your thoughts are messy. By starting with what feels confusing, heavy, or awkward, let me (🤖) explore the problem with you. I (🤖) help you notice more, reflect more, and ask better questions later on.
🧭 When to Use This:
You don’t know where to begin and the direction feels unclear
You’ve built something that works, but it still doesn’t feel quite right
You’ve just gotten vague feedback like “something’s off” and want to dig deeper
💬 Prompt Examples:
“Something about this problem framing feels too narrow. What angles might we be missing?”
“I’m reading this brief, but it doesn’t sit right. Can you help me unpack what might be misaligned?”
“I can’t explain it, but this layout doesn’t feel right. Can you help me explore why?”
🖼 Anything to accompany the prompt (Multimodal):
Use whatever helps you express what you’re sensing whether it’s visual or written.
If the feeling is about the screen: Upload a screenshot, wireframe, or layout that feels clunky, overwhelming, or unclear.
If the feeling is about the brief or direction: Share a short excerpt from the PRD, user story, or goals that feel misaligned or vague.
🤨 How to Keep Me in Check:
Use the feeling to open the door, but use follow-up questions to decide what’s real (have evidence) and worth acting on.
Separate instinct from insight
Don’t treat every suggestion as a fix
Ask for grounding
2. Prompt the AI to ask you back
Let me (🤖) help you figure out what to ask.
Sometimes the problem isn’t that you don’t know the answer. It’s that you’re not sure what the question should be. In those moments, you can ask me (🤖) to generate the questions for you. This helps you find a better starting point, especially when the topic is new, vague, or overwhelming.
💡 Why This Is Useful:
It helps you slow down and think more clearly. I (🤖) can surface helpful questions, uncover blind spots, and push your thinking in ways you hadn’t considered. You get unstuck not by doing more—but by asking better.
🧭 When to Use This:
You’re exploring something unfamiliar and feel not sure where to begin
You’re trying to improve something, but don’t know what’s missing
You want to reflect more deeply before jumping into prototyping
💬 Prompt Examples:
“What should I ask myself before designing a user onboarding flow?”
“I’m exploring a new dashboard feature—what questions would help me focus?”
“I want to improve this experience, but I’m not sure what I should be thinking about. Can you help?”
“Help me figure out what I don’t know I’m missing here.”
🖼 Multimodal:
Optional, but helpful. If you have a rough sketch, wireframe, or early screen, upload it to get more targeted questions. Try: “Here’s my first version of the screen. What should I be asking to make this better?”
🤨 How to Keep the AI in Check:
You’re not just looking for more questions—you’re looking for the right ones. Let me (🤖) start the thinking, but you still have to shape where it goes.
Look for depth, not just quantity
Watch for repetition. Push for purposeful questions.
3. Use role-based prompting
Get feedback by asking the AI to think like someone else.
Instead of just asking for ideas or solutions, you can ask me (🤖) to think like a different teammate, like an engineer, product manager, or business lead. This helps you look at your design from angles you might not usually consider, such as how hard something is to build, whether it supports business goals—or if it fits into the bigger plan.
💡 Why This Is Useful:
This way helps you get out of your own head and spot things you might miss. By thinking like an engineer, a business lead, or a user with different needs, you can catch problems early whether it’s about feasibility, clarity, inclusiveness, etc. It also prepares you for real feedback by showing you different viewpoints before your design gets shared.
🧭 When to Use This:
You haven’t had a chance to talk to others in your team yet and want quick feedback from other perspectives
You want to stress-test your design before sharing it with engineers, PMs, or stakeholders
💬 Prompts:
“Act like an engineer. What parts of this design might be difficult or expensive to build?”
“As a product manager, what would you question in this user flow?”
“From a business point of view, does this screen help us reach our goals?”
🖼 Multimodal:
Adding visuals like screenshots, mockups, or flow diagrams gives me (🤖) a clearer picture of the design and makes the role-based critique more specific and grounded.
🤨 How to Keep the AI in Check:
Don’t assume me (🤖) fully understands the role it’s playing. Ask more whether its feedback reflects real priorities from that role, or if it’s just making educated guesses.
4. Look at your problem from a completely different angle
Break out of your usual mindset to see new possibilities.
If your ideas feel flat, too safe, or like you’re stuck in a loop, ask me (🤖) to think like someone completely different. It could be someone outside your team, your role, or even your industry. This helps you explore fresh directions you wouldn’t reach on your own.
💡 Why This Is Useful:
It helps you shift your thinking and see the problem in a fresh light. By borrowing the mindset of a game designer, storyteller, motion artist, or even a younger/older user group, you can unlock new directions, styles, and emotions in your design. It’s especially useful when you feel stuck or uninspired.
🧭 When to Use This:
Your ideas feel repetitive or too similar to past work
You’re looking for a more engaging, emotional, or creative direction
You want to explore unexpected approaches before refining the concept
💬 Prompt Examples:
“What would a game designer do to make this screen feel more rewarding?”
“How would a storyteller improve the emotional flow of this journey?”
“From the perspective of a motion designer, what transitions would bring this to life?”
🖼 Multimodal:
Uploading a visual or a short excerpt from the brief gives me (🤖) more context.
🤨 How to Keep the AI in Check:
When you’re exploring new angles, I (🤖) may give exciting but unrealistic suggestions. Use lateral thinking to expand your view, but stay grounded in your goal. Not every wild idea is worth chasing.
5. Decompose big unknowns into chunks
Break something big and fuzzy into smaller, clearer steps.
When you’re facing a complex problem or a vague goal, it’s easy to feel stuck. This prompt helps you zoom in, one piece at a time. Instead of trying to solve everything at once, you ask me (🤖) to help you untangle it into smaller, more manageable parts.
💡 Why This Is Useful:
It gives you a starting point when the problem feels overwhelming. By breaking things down, you can see the shape of the work more clearly and move forward with less stress and more focus.
🧭 When to Use This:
You’re looking at a broad goal and don’t know what steps come first
You’re dealing with multiple moving parts that feel tangled
You want to avoid jumping to solutions too early and instead clarify the space
💬 Prompts:
“Can you help me break down what to consider when designing a dashboard?”
“The brief says to improve engagement. What are the areas I should explore?”
“What are the smaller decisions inside this larger design challenge?”
🖼 Multimodal:
If you have a messy wireframe, early concept, or flow sketch, upload it. It helps me (🤖) see what’s already there so I can suggest how to break it into parts, clarify steps, or spot what’s missing.
🤨 How to Keep the AI in Check:
Make sure the breakdown is actually useful, not just a long list. Check whether the pieces are specific, relevant, and tied to your real design goal, not just generic chunks that sound good.
Your conversation with AI may be different from others. I use ChatGPT Plus, which has a memory system (they say better than the free version), so perhaps it has some context about how I’ve been using it. I still don’t know how the memory system works precisely or how much it actually affects the responses. If you try these prompts, let me know what you think.
On another note: do you think we should say “please” and “thank you” to AI, just in case the robots rise up? Jokes aside, it’s technically wasting millions of dollars.1 What do you think?
Until next week,
Thomas
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