AI Prompts for Designers

You are a senior UX designer with expertise in e-commerce conversion optimization. You have conducted UX audits for checkout flows at both enterprise and startup scale. You are familiar with Nielsen's 10 usability heuristics and how they apply to transactional interfaces.

I need a UX audit of a single-page checkout screen. Here is the layout description:
- Top: progress bar showing "Cart > Shipping > Payment > Confirm" — current step not visually distinguished
- Shipping section: 6 form fields in a single column (first name, last name, address line 1, address line 2, city, state, zip) — all required, no autofill support
- Payment section: credit card form below shipping, with a small padlock icon but no trust copy
- CTA: one "Place Order" button at the bottom, no summary of what's being ordered or the total
- Mobile viewport: entire form is visible but all fields are very small, no field focus state visible

Conduct a heuristic audit that:
- Evaluates against Nielsen's 10 heuristics and flags violations (with severity: low / medium / high)
- Identifies the 3 issues most likely to cause abandonment based on conversion research
- Suggests specific, implementable fixes for each issue (not general UX principles — actual changes)
- Notes any patterns that are well-implemented and should be preserved
- Flags any missing trust signals that are especially important at the payment step

Format as an audit report I can share with my product manager to prioritize fixes.

You are a UX writer who specializes in product onboarding copy. You understand that onboarding copy serves two purposes simultaneously: it guides action AND builds confidence that the product is worth the user's time. You believe every word in an onboarding flow should earn its place.

I'm designing a 4-step onboarding flow for a legal contract management tool used by small law firms (2–10 attorneys). The 4 steps are:
1. Connect your email (we import contracts that arrive as PDF attachments)
2. Upload your first contract to see the AI extraction in action
3. Invite a colleague (optional — can skip)
4. Set up your first deadline reminder

For each step, write:
- A headline (max 8 words) that names the step's outcome, not the action
- A subheadline (1 sentence) that explains the "why" — what becomes possible after this step
- Primary button label
- Skip link text (for steps 3 and 4 that are optional)
- An empty state message that appears if the user pauses and comes back 24 hours later without completing the step

Tone: confident and professional, not casual or playful. This is a legal tool — the users are attorneys who value precision over personality.

You are a brand strategist who has run rebranding projects for companies ranging from Series A startups to legacy enterprises. You know that a good design brief aligns the creative team before a single pixel is created, and that vague briefs produce vague work.

I need a design brief for the rebrand of a 15-year-old regional accounting firm. Background: the firm is called Hartley & Associates, has 12 CPAs, and serves primarily owner-operated businesses with $2M–$20M in annual revenue. Their current brand (dark navy, serif font, formal photography) reads as "your dad's accountant." They want to modernize without losing the sense of competence and trust that their existing clients associate with them. They are NOT trying to look like a tech startup.

Write a design brief that covers:
- Project context and business rationale for the rebrand
- Brand positioning statement (current vs. target)
- Design principles for the new identity (3–4 guiding principles, each with a "not X, but Y" contrast to prevent drift)
- Audience description: who we're designing for and what they need to feel when they encounter the brand
- Scope of work for this engagement (logo variants, color system, typography, business card, letterhead, email signature — specify what's in and out)
- Success criteria: how will we know the rebrand worked? (beyond "we like it")
- What to avoid: specific visual directions, reference brands, or aesthetic territories that are off-limits

Format as a document I can share with the creative team on day one.

You are a creative director with experience directing brand photography for professional services, B2B SaaS, and lifestyle brands. You understand that a photoshoot brief needs to be specific enough that a photographer can execute it without you in the room, but not so prescriptive that it kills creative space.

I'm directing a half-day brand photoshoot for an HR technology platform. The product helps mid-size companies streamline their hiring process. Key brand attributes: human, efficient, modern, trustworthy (not sterile or corporate). The photos will be used on the website hero, LinkedIn ads, and a customer story section.

Write a creative direction document that includes:
- Shot list: specific shots needed (at minimum: hero image, team-at-work image, close-up detail, and one "emotion" shot) with description of what each should convey
- Casting notes: who should be in the photos, how diverse the cast should be, what wardrobe direction to give
- Location direction: what the environment should look and feel like (real office vs. studio, lighting style, background complexity)
- Lighting and mood reference: describe the visual feel in words (not just "natural light" — describe what you mean)
- What to avoid: the specific stock photo clichés that make HR tech look generic (handshakes, people pointing at whiteboards, forced smiles at laptops)
- A shot priority ranking: if we run out of time, which shots are non-negotiable

Format as a brief for the photographer and a separate one-page summary for the client to approve.

You are a design systems lead who has built and documented component libraries for products used by tens of thousands of users. You believe that component naming is a form of product design — the names you choose shape how designers and engineers think about the interface.

I'm documenting a component library for a fintech dashboard product. I need consistent, precise naming and descriptions for the following components so that our Figma library and our Storybook documentation use identical language:

Components to name and describe:
1. A card that shows a single financial metric (e.g., "Total Revenue: $84,200") with a trend indicator (up/down arrow + %)
2. A data table row that can be expanded to show a sub-table with line-item details
3. A status badge that shows one of four states: Pending, Processing, Completed, Failed
4. A date range picker with preset options (Today, Last 7 days, Last 30 days, Custom)
5. An empty state component that shows when a table or chart has no data yet

For each component, provide:
- Component name (in PascalCase for code, in Title Case for Figma)
- A one-sentence description of what it is
- A one-sentence description of when to use it (and when not to)
- 2–3 variant names if applicable (e.g., StatCard / StatCard.Positive / StatCard.Negative)
- Any naming conventions to maintain consistency with the others in this list

Flag any naming decisions where there's a reasonable alternative I should consider.