UX & Design: ChatGPT Prompts for Designers

I'm conducting user research for [product]. The research goal: [what we want to learn].
Target participants: [describe]. Method: [in-person/remote/moderated/unmoderated].

Create a user interview guide with:
1. 3-4 warm-up questions to build rapport
2. 6-8 core questions that probe for the research goal
3. Avoid leading questions — flag any you write that are leading
4. Suggested follow-ups for surface-level answers
5. A closing question that surfaces unspoken needs

Based on this user research data: [paste interview notes, survey results, analytics].

Synthesize 3 user personas. For each include:
- Name and demographic snapshot
- Primary goal when using our product
- Biggest frustration or pain point
- Quote they might say
- Typical workflow or context of use
- Technology comfort level (1-10)

Keep each persona under 200 words. Make them specific — no generic "busy professional."

Map the user journey for [task or workflow in our product].
User persona: [name]. Scenario: [describe the situation].

Output a journey map table with columns:
Stage | Action | Thought/Feeling | Pain Point | Opportunity

Include 5-7 stages from awareness to post-completion.
For each pain point, rate severity: Low/Medium/High.
For each opportunity, suggest a specific design intervention.

Design a [component name] for [context]. 

Requirements:
- Function: [what it does]
- States: [default, hover, active, disabled, loading, error, empty]
- Content variants: [short text, long text, with/without icon, etc.]
- Accessibility: [WCAG level, keyboard nav, screen reader]

For each state, describe:
1. Visual appearance (spacing, color, typography)
2. Behavior (animation, transition)
3. Edge cases to handle

Provide a spec a developer could implement without ambiguity.

Here's a description of a screen layout: [describe layout and goals].

Analyze this layout for:
1. Visual hierarchy — is the most important element drawing the most attention?
2. Scan pattern — does the layout follow natural reading patterns?
3. Information density — is it crowded or too sparse?
4. Affordance — are interactive elements clearly identifiable?
5. Consistency — does it follow established patterns from the rest of the product?

Provide 3-5 specific improvements, ranked by impact.

For our [product/feature], users encounter these error scenarios:
[List 3-5 errors]

For each error, design the error experience:
1. What the user sees (message, visuals)
2. What action they can take to resolve it
3. Tone of the message (apologetic/humorous/direct) and why
4. What happens if they can't resolve it themselves

Make errors useful — not just "something went wrong." Give people a path forward.

Write documentation for the [component name] component in our design system.

Specs:
- Usage guidelines (when to use, when not to use)
- Variants and their intended use cases
- Props/API with expected values
- Accessibility notes
- 2-3 code examples showing common implementations
- Design tokens used (colors, spacing, typography)

Tone: Professional but approachable. The audience is both designers and developers.

Review our design token naming convention: [current naming schema].

Evaluate it against these criteria:
1. Consistency — do similar tokens follow the same pattern?
2. Discoverability — can someone guess a token name without looking it up?
3. Scalability — will this naming break when we add [new theme/platform/use case]?

Suggest improvements. If the current naming is fine, explain why.
Provide examples of renamed tokens in your suggested format.

Audit these components for design system readiness:
[List 5-8 components with brief descriptions]

For each component, answer:
1. Is it consistent with sibling components? (spacing, interaction patterns, naming)
2. Are all states covered? (default, hover, active, disabled, loading, error, empty)
3. Can it be composed with other components cleanly?
4. What's missing that would block adoption?

Rank components by "ready to ship" vs "needs redesign" vs "needs spec." 

Create a usability test script for [feature or flow].

Test objective: [what we want to validate].
Participant profile: [describe]. Test format: [moderated/unmoderated].

Include:
1. Introduction and consent script
2. 5-7 task-based scenarios (not instructions — describe the goal, let them figure it out)
3. Probing questions for after each task
4. Post-test survey questions (5 max)
5. Observer notes template (what should the note-taker watch for?)

Here are usability test findings: [paste raw notes from 5-8 sessions].

Synthesize this into an actionable report:
1. Top 3 severity issues (with quotes from participants)
2. Patterns observed across multiple participants
3. Surprising findings we didn't expect
4. Quick wins — issues we can fix in < 1 day
5. Strategic issues — problems that require deeper design work

Keep the report under 500 words. Prioritize clarity over thoroughness.

I'm writing a portfolio case study for [project name].

Project context: [what it was, my role, timeline].
Problem: [what we were solving]. Constraints: [tech, budget, time].
Outcome: [metrics, results, awards].

Structure the case study:
1. Title and one-line hook
2. Problem section (100 words)
3. My role and team (50 words)
4. Design process (3-5 steps, 150 words total, with visuals noted)
5. Key decisions with rationale (3 decisions, 50 words each)
6. Results with specific metrics
7. Lessons learned

Write in first person. Make it specific — the reader should understand exactly
what I did and why, not generic "we used design thinking."

I'm presenting a design proposal to [stakeholders: engineering, execs, clients].

The proposal: [brief description]. The ask: [what decision/approval I need].

Create a presentation narrative:
1. Opening hook that frames the problem
2. 3 key points I must land (the audience will only remember 3 things)
3. Anticipated objections and my counterpoints
4. A closing that makes the next step obvious
5. What to put in appendix vs main deck

Focus on persuasion, not explanation. The audience doesn't need to understand
every pixel — they need to understand why this is the right call.