10 ui and ux design prompts

Screen structure, empty states, error handling and onboarding — prompts for working through interface decisions. Written for ChatGPT, Claude, v0, Figma AI. Square brackets mark what you fill in; everything else can be pasted as it stands.

[Screen name] has no data yet for a new user. Design the empty state.

Give me:
- One line that says what this screen will show once it has data
- The single action that gets the user to that state
- What to show if the user cannot take that action yet (no permission, waiting on someone else)

Write the actual copy, not a description of it. Keep the heading under eight words.

Rewrite these error messages. For each one:

- Say what happened in the user's terms, not the system's
- Say what to do next, specifically
- Never blame the user, and never say "something went wrong"
- No more than two sentences

If an error cannot be acted on by the user, say so and suggest what to log instead.

<errors>
[paste the current messages]
</errors>

[Operation] takes between [fast case] and [slow case] to complete.

Propose what the interface should do at each of these points: immediately, after three seconds, after the slow case, and when it fails.

For each, give the actual copy and say whether the user should be able to leave the screen. Avoid a spinner with no text anywhere in the answer.

Here is a screen design: [describe it, or paste the component].

Check it against every state it has to handle: empty, loading, partial data, maximum data, error, offline, no permission, and the longest realistic content in each field.

For each state that is not handled, say what currently happens and what should happen instead.

Here is a flow: [describe each screen and what the user does].

For each step, tell me:
- What the user has to know or decide to continue
- What they would have to go and find elsewhere
- The most likely reason someone abandons here

Rank the steps by how many people you would expect to lose. Say which single step you would fix first and why.

Propose three genuinely different layouts for [screen purpose], for a user who is trying to [user goal].

They must differ in structure, not in styling. For each:
- What it puts first and what it demotes
- Who it suits and who it frustrates
- What breaks about it at the smallest screen size

Do not give a recommendation until all three are described.

Design onboarding for [product] where the user's first goal is [goal].

Assume most people skip it. So:
- What must be understood before the user can do anything useful
- Which of those can be taught in context instead of up front
- What the product should do if onboarding is dismissed at step one

Write the copy for each screen you propose. Three screens maximum.

This screen exists so the user can [primary job]. Here is everything currently on it: [list the elements].

For each element, decide: essential to the primary job, useful but secondary, or noise. Be strict — most screens have more noise than the designer thinks.

Then propose what to remove and what to move, and say what you would lose by doing it.

Here are the destructive actions in [product]: [list them].

For each, decide between: do it immediately with an undo, confirm first, or require typing something to confirm. Base the decision on how reversible the action is and how bad the worst case is, not on how dangerous it sounds.

Write the copy for every confirmation you recommend. Confirmations that say "Are you sure?" are not acceptable.

A user asked for: [the request, in their words].

First, state what they are probably trying to achieve underneath the request. List two possibilities if it is ambiguous.

Then propose three ways to serve that underlying goal, one of which does not add any new interface at all. For each, say what it costs the rest of the product.