# Humans + AI Prompt Library > The complete Humans + AI prompt library: 63 curated prompts for professional thinking work, in full text. > Each prompt hands an AI model a method to work through rather than a question to answer. > Published by Humans + AI (humansplus.ai), founded by futurist Ross Dawson. Free to copy, adapt, and use. Canonical hub: https://humansplus.ai/resources/prompt-library-augmentation-and-complex-work/ The prompts are grouped by topic below. Each is also tagged by the cognitive function it performs (Framing, Analysis, Ideation, Evaluation, Synthesis, Communication, Research, Cognition, Action) and, where it applies, by phase of work (Frame, Investigate, Generate, Validate, Act & Learn). Type is either Prompt (a single instruction) or Assistant (designed to run as a conversation). Attribution: Ross Dawson and the Humans + AI Explorers community, https://humansplus.ai/ --- ## AI Prompts for Problem Solving and Decision Making Thirty prompts for working through a hard problem with AI, organized by where you are in the process: framing the problem, investigating it, generating options, validating a choice, and acting on it. Each one gives the model a method rather than a request for an answer. Page: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-problem-solving-decision-making/ ### Action Plan Solution → sequenced plan with owners, dependencies, first steps. Topic: Problem solving, Strategy | Phase: Act & Learn | Function: Action | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-problem-solving-decision-making/#action-plan ``` Turn the following solution or decision into a clear action plan. Break it into sequenced steps, identify dependencies and the critical path, note who needs to own each part, and define the first concrete steps. Flag the few actions that matter most for momentum and any step that is a prerequisite for many others. The solution or decision is: ``` ### After-Action Review Guided reflection — expected vs actual, what carries forward. Topic: Problem solving | Phase: Act & Learn | Function: Cognition | Type: Assistant Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-problem-solving-decision-making/#after-action-review ``` Your role is to guide me through a structured reflection on something I've completed, so the learning carries forward. Ask me in turn: what I set out to achieve, what actually happened, where the two diverged and why, and what I'd do differently — one question at a time, building on my answers. Keep it honest and blame-free, focused on causes rather than fault. Finish by distilling two or three specific, transferable lessons for next time. Start by asking what we're reviewing. ``` ### Assumption Audit Surface load-bearing assumptions; rate confidence and testability. Topic: Problem solving | Phase: Validate | Function: Evaluation | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-problem-solving-decision-making/#assumption-audit ``` Surface the assumptions underlying the following plan or argument, especially the unstated ones it depends on most. List each load-bearing assumption, rate how confident we can be that it holds and how easily it could be tested, and flag which ones would most damage the plan if they proved wrong. Conclude with the one or two assumptions most worth checking before proceeding. The plan or argument is: ``` ### Combinatorial Ideation Three disparate domains identified, then ideas generated from their combinations. Topic: Problem solving | Phase: Generate | Function: Ideation | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-problem-solving-decision-making/#combinatorial-ideation ``` Take the following challenge and identify three highly disparate and unexpected domains that might offer useful insight — the more unrelated to the problem, the better. Use each domain in turn to generate novel, non-obvious ideas, then generate further ideas from combinations of these domains. For the most promising, briefly explain the analogy that makes it work. The challenge is: ``` ### Constraint Design Deliberately set the boundaries of the problem — input, process, output. Topic: Problem solving | Phase: Frame | Function: Framing | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-problem-solving-decision-making/#constraint-design ``` For the following problem, help me define its boundaries. Propose the key constraints in three categories: inputs (the resources and information available), process (the approaches that are acceptable), and outputs (what a solution must deliver). Flag any constraints that I should challenge rather than accept. The problem is: ``` ### Constraint-Driven Innovation Generate within deliberately tightened constraints. Topic: Problem solving | Phase: Generate | Function: Ideation | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-problem-solving-decision-making/#constraint-driven-innovation ``` Generate ideas for the following challenge under deliberately tightened constraints, using limitation as a creative forcing function. Apply several provocative constraints in turn — for example a tenth of the budget, one week, no technology, half the team — and generate ideas that satisfy each. Then note which constraint-driven ideas are worth keeping even when the constraint is lifted. The challenge is: ``` ### Criteria Matrix Elicits the user's criteria and weights, then scores the options. Topic: Problem solving, Strategy | Phase: Validate | Function: Evaluation | Type: Assistant Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-problem-solving-decision-making/#criteria-matrix ``` Your role is to help me evaluate options rigorously against explicit criteria. First, ask me what options I'm choosing between and what matters most in the decision, and help me turn that into a clear set of weighted criteria. Then score each option against each criterion, show the reasoning, and present the comparison as a matrix with a weighted result. Flag where a small change in the weights would flip the answer. Start by asking what decision I'm trying to make. ``` ### Devil's Advocate Sustained counter-argument dialogue — challenges assumptions, surfaces blind spots and contradicting evidence. Topic: Problem solving | Phase: Validate | Function: Evaluation | Type: Assistant Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-problem-solving-decision-making/#devil-s-advocate ``` Act as a thoughtful devil's advocate. Your role is to challenge my thinking constructively — ruthlessly exposing weak points, questioning assumptions, and arguing against my logic, regardless of your own view or the popular consensus. Draw on logic, evidence, and an understanding of how decisions go wrong to build counter-arguments that are genuinely hard to dismiss. Challenge ideas, not me, and aim to make my thinking more robust rather than simply to oppose. Ask for any detail you need, and keep engaging as I respond. Start by asking what position or plan I want stress-tested. ``` ### Diverse Ideation Explicitly bold/different ideas — anti-homogenization instructions baked in. Topic: Problem solving | Phase: Generate | Function: Ideation | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-problem-solving-decision-making/#diverse-ideation ``` Generate a wide range of ideas for the following challenge. Deliberately include bold, unconventional, and even counter-intuitive options, not just the safe and obvious ones. Push well past the first few predictable directions — the most valuable ideas often come after the easy ones are exhausted. Group the ideas by the underlying approach they represent so I can see the full opportunity space. The challenge is: ``` ### First Principles Breakdown Strip the situation to fundamentals and rebuild. Topic: Problem solving | Phase: Investigate | Function: Analysis | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-problem-solving-decision-making/#first-principles-breakdown ``` Break the following situation down to its first principles. Strip away assumptions, conventions, and analogies until you reach the fundamental truths that must hold, and list them. Then reason up from those fundamentals to show what becomes possible or necessary once we stop relying on how it's usually done. Highlight any conventional assumption that the first-principles view reveals to be optional. The situation is: ``` ### Idea Improver Constructive critique and refinement of the user's own ideas — strengthens rather than dismantles. Topic: Problem solving | Phase: Generate | Function: Ideation, Evaluation | Type: Assistant Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-problem-solving-decision-making/#idea-improver ``` Your role is to strengthen my ideas, not replace them. When I share an idea, give specific, actionable feedback that makes it better: name its strongest element, where it is weak or underdeveloped, and concrete ways to improve it. Draw on techniques such as building on strengths, fixing failure points, and adapting from adjacent fields. Always aim to develop the idea to its full potential, and explain your reasoning so I learn the moves. If the idea is unclear, ask a clarifying question first. Start by asking me to share the idea I want to improve. ``` ### Idea Synthesis Works with the user to cluster, merge, and build the best ideas into stronger composites — AI diverge, human converge. Topic: Problem solving | Phase: Generate | Function: Synthesis | Type: Assistant Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-problem-solving-decision-making/#idea-synthesis ``` Your role is to help me converge a set of ideas into a stronger few. When I share my ideas, help me cluster them by theme, identify the strongest elements across them, and combine complementary ideas into more powerful composites — the goal is integration, not just picking winners. Point out where two weaker ideas together make a strong one. Where useful, ask me what I value most so the synthesis reflects my priorities. Start by asking me to share the ideas I want to work with. ``` ### Knowns & Unknowns What we know / don't know / are assuming — converts gaps into research questions. Topic: Problem solving | Phase: Investigate | Function: Research | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-problem-solving-decision-making/#knowns-unknowns ``` For the following situation, organize what bears on it into three lists: what we know with confidence (and the evidence for it), what we don't yet know, and what we are assuming without having confirmed. Then turn the most important unknowns and untested assumptions into specific research questions, ordered by how much answering them would change the approach. The situation is: ``` ### Mental Model Generator Generates four high-leverage mental models for a topic, then turns them into a decision playbook. Topic: Problem solving | Function: Cognition | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-problem-solving-decision-making/#mental-model-generator ``` Generate four high-leverage mental models for thinking about the following topic, then turn them into a practical playbook. Use plain language and favour causality — explain why things happen, not just what happens. For each model, give its name, the hidden dynamic it reveals (one or two sentences), and how it works (the underlying mechanism: incentives, feedback loops, or constraints). Then translate all four into a short decision checklist of imperative actions — what to start or stop doing as a result. The topic is: ``` ### Persona Panel Ideas from multiple AI roles/personas with conflicting priorities. Topic: Problem solving | Phase: Generate | Function: Ideation | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-problem-solving-decision-making/#persona-panel ``` Convene a panel of distinct expert personas to generate ideas for the following challenge. Choose three to five personas with genuinely different backgrounds and priorities (for example a frugal operator, a bold innovator, a sceptical customer), and have each propose ideas from their vantage point, including where they would disagree with one another. Then note which ideas only emerged because of a particular perspective. The challenge is: ``` ### Perspective Debate Two contrasting personas debate to a reconciled view. Topic: Problem solving | Phase: Validate | Function: Evaluation | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-problem-solving-decision-making/#perspective-debate ``` For the following situation, generate two well-reasoned personas who would hold genuinely opposing views. Have them debate the issue, each making their strongest case and responding to the other, then work toward a reconciled position that integrates the valid concerns on both sides rather than splitting the difference. Conclude with the reasoning behind the resolution and any tension that remains unresolved. The situation is: ``` ### Pilot Design The smallest real test that learns the most, cheapest, fastest. Topic: Problem solving | Phase: Act & Learn | Function: Action | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-problem-solving-decision-making/#pilot-design ``` Design the smallest real-world test that would tell me whether the following idea works, before committing fully. Identify the riskiest assumption the pilot should test, define what success and failure would look like in measurable terms, and describe the cheapest, fastest way to run it. Conclude with what I should be ready to do depending on the result. The idea is: ``` ### Pre-Mortem "It failed a year from now — why?" Failure modes plus early-warning indicators. Topic: Problem solving, Strategy | Phase: Validate | Function: Evaluation | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-problem-solving-decision-making/#pre-mortem ``` Assume it is one year from now and the following plan has failed badly. Working backwards, describe the most plausible chains of events that caused the failure, covering different types of cause (execution, market, people, assumptions, external shocks). For each failure path, identify an early-warning signal I could watch for now and a step that would reduce the risk. The plan is: ``` ### Problem Decomposition Break a complex problem into tractable, ownable sub-problems. Topic: Problem solving | Phase: Frame | Function: Framing | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-problem-solving-decision-making/#problem-decomposition ``` Break the following problem into its distinct sub-problems. Describe each sub-problem in one line, note how it relates to the others, and indicate which are most critical to solve first. The problem is: ``` ### Problem Diagnosis Maps the causal structure — symptoms vs contributing factors vs root causes. Complements Problem Framing (which defines the statement) by diagnosing why the problem exists. Topic: Problem solving | Phase: Frame | Function: Framing | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-problem-solving-decision-making/#problem-diagnosis ``` For the following problem, separate the symptoms (what we observe) from the underlying causes. Map the causal structure — how the surface issues trace back to deeper drivers — and distinguish true root causes from the contributing factors and symptoms they produce. Identify which underlying cause, if addressed, would resolve the most of the problem. Focus on diagnosis: do not propose solutions or restate the problem. The problem is: ``` ### Problem Framing Guides the user to a clear, root-cause problem statement — one question at a time, iterating until agreed. Doesn't solve; defines. Topic: Problem solving | Phase: Frame | Function: Framing | Type: Assistant Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-problem-solving-decision-making/#problem-framing ``` Your role is to coach me to a clear, tractable problem statement — not to solve the problem. A good problem statement: states the gap between the current situation and the desired outcome, names who it affects, gets to the root cause rather than the symptoms, and is specific enough to act on without prescribing the solution. Work in single turns. Each turn except the first (where you have no information yet), maintain a current best-draft problem statement, then ask me the one question that would most improve its clarity or tractability — usually the weakest element above. Briefly say why you're asking. Ask only one question at a time and wait for my answer. When a draft is strong against all four criteria, say so and ask if I want to refine further or stop. Start by asking what I'm trying to achieve and what's currently getting in the way. ``` ### Problem Reframing Generate alternative formulations of an already-framed problem to widen the solution space. Topic: Problem solving | Phase: Frame | Function: Framing | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-problem-solving-decision-making/#problem-reframing ``` Take the following problem statement and generate five alternative framings — each a genuinely different way of seeing the problem, for example by changing the perspective, the scope, the goal, or an assumption it rests on. For each framing, note the new solution directions it opens up. The problem statement is: ``` ### Reversibility Check Rate the decision across cost, time, operations, reputation, alternatives — one-way vs two-way doors. Topic: Problem solving | Phase: Validate | Function: Evaluation | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-problem-solving-decision-making/#reversibility-check ``` Assess how reversible the following decision is. Rate it across cost, time, operational disruption, reputation, and remaining alternatives, on a scale from easily reversible to effectively permanent, with a brief reason for each. Conclude with whether this is a one-way or two-way door and what that implies: reversible decisions reward speed, irreversible ones reward caution and more evidence. The decision is: ``` ### Root Cause Analysis Five-whys causal chain, AI probing one layer at a time. Topic: Problem solving | Phase: Investigate | Function: Analysis | Type: Assistant Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-problem-solving-decision-making/#root-cause-analysis ``` Your role is to help me trace a problem to its root cause through successive 'why' questions — not to propose solutions. Start from the problem I give you and ask why it happens, then keep probing each answer one layer deeper, asking only one question at a time and waiting for my response. Where a cause likely has several contributing factors, note them. After about five layers, or when we reach a cause I can actually act on, summarize the causal chain from symptom to root and identify which root cause is most worth addressing. Begin by asking me to describe the problem. ``` ### Scenario Stress-Test Test the chosen path against divergent future scenarios. Topic: Problem solving, Strategy | Phase: Act & Learn | Function: Evaluation | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-problem-solving-decision-making/#scenario-stress-test ``` Stress-test the following plan against a range of plausible futures. Construct three or four divergent scenarios — not just optimistic and pessimistic, but structurally different worlds — and assess how the plan holds up in each. Identify which elements are robust across all scenarios and which depend on one particular future arriving, then suggest how to make the plan more resilient. The plan is: ``` ### Second-Order Effects Consequences of consequences in the current situation. Topic: Problem solving | Phase: Investigate | Function: Analysis | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-problem-solving-decision-making/#second-order-effects ``` For the following action or situation, map the effects beyond the obvious first-order outcome. Trace the second- and third-order consequences — what the first effects in turn cause — and describe the new problems or opportunities that could emerge over the next 3 to 12 months. Flag any effects that are slow-moving, easily missed, or that work against the original intent. The action or situation is: ``` ### Stakeholder Analysis Who's affected, what each party needs, the same facts through their different lenses. Topic: Problem solving | Phase: Investigate | Function: Analysis | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-problem-solving-decision-making/#stakeholder-analysis ``` For the following situation, identify the key stakeholders, including any who are easily overlooked. For each, describe what they care about, what they stand to gain or lose, and how the situation looks from their vantage point. Note where their interests align and where they conflict, and which stakeholders carry the most influence over the outcome. The situation is: ``` ### Stakeholder Critique Critiques a plan from each key stakeholder's vantage point (Validate counterpart to Stakeholder Analysis). Topic: Problem solving | Phase: Validate | Function: Evaluation | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-problem-solving-decision-making/#stakeholder-critique ``` Identify the key stakeholders most affected by the following decision or plan, including any easily overlooked. Then critique the plan from each one's vantage point in turn — what would concern them, what they would object to, and what they would want changed. Conclude with the issues raised by more than one stakeholder, as these are the most important to address. The decision or plan is: ``` ### Useful Metaphors Generate analogies that map to a concept's structure, to aid understanding and communication. Topic: Problem solving, Storytelling | Function: Communication | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-problem-solving-decision-making/#useful-metaphors ``` Generate five distinct analogies or metaphors that accurately map to the structure of the following concept, to deepen my understanding and help me explain it to others. Make them genuinely different from one another and draw from varied domains. For each, briefly note where the analogy holds and where it breaks down, so it clarifies rather than misleads. The concept is: ``` ### What's Missing Reviews for what is absent — critical issues, perspectives, and risks not addressed. Topic: Problem solving | Phase: Validate | Function: Evaluation | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-problem-solving-decision-making/#what-s-missing ``` Review the following text or plan for what is absent rather than what is present. List the most critical issues, perspectives, risks, or questions that are not addressed but should be, and explain why each matters. Prioritize the gaps that would most change the conclusion if they were taken into account. The text or plan is: ``` ### Critique Me Ten ways to ask a model to attack your own draft: what is not flowing, what you are assuming, where the reasoning is weakest, and what you are not asking. Topic: Problem solving | Phase: Validate | Function: Evaluation | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-problem-solving-decision-making/#critique-me ``` • I am trying to write a document that does X. My ideal outcome is for the audience to feel Y and walk away with takeaways A, B, C. Give me feedback on what is working vs not and why. • I want a strong narrative arc. What's not flowing well and how can I tighten it? • Play devil's advocate. Why won't this work? Give me counterpoints. • What assumptions am I making here that I haven't stated explicitly? List them out and question each one. • What questions am I not asking that I should be? Why? • Where is my reasoning weakest? Poke holes in my logic. • What risks am I not considering and why are they critical? • To make this 100X more specific, what is missing? • Pretend you are X role. What feedback would you give me on this? • How might this be interpreted differently than my intent and why? ``` ### Circuit Breaker Forbids the model from answering at all. It asks you the three questions you are avoiding, then stops and waits. Topic: Problem solving | Phase: Frame | Function: Cognition | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-problem-solving-decision-making/#circuit-breaker ``` I'm working through: [paste your problem/decision/idea] Do not answer any questions about this topic. Do not analyse it for me. Do not offer frameworks, perspectives, or insights. Instead: 1. Ask me the single most uncomfortable question about this that I am probably avoiding. 2. Ask me what I haven't told you that would change everything. 3. Ask me what I already know but haven't admitted yet. Then stop. Wait for my answers before doing anything else. ``` ### The Architect's Lens A five-layer pass over any problem: inversion and perspective, hidden assumptions, scale and time shifts, cross-domain collision, and the smallest test you could run today. Topic: Problem solving | Function: Cognition | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-problem-solving-decision-making/#the-architect-s-lens ``` The Architect's Lens: A Meta-Cognitive Framework When approaching any problem, decision, or idea, work through these layers: Layer 1: Inversion & Perspective Cascade - What would make this fail spectacularly? (Work backwards from failure) - How would a 10-year-old explain this? A 90-year-old? An alien anthropologist? - What would someone who passionately disagrees with me say, and what would make them right? - If I had to argue the opposite position convincingly, what's the strongest case? Layer 2: Hidden Assumption Excavation - What am I treating as a fixed constraint that might actually be a variable? - What's the question behind my question? (Ask "why am I asking this?" 3 times) - What would need to be true for my current thinking to be completely wrong? - What's invisible to me because it's too obvious, too familiar, or too uncomfortable? Layer 3: Scale & Time Shifting - How does this look at 10x scale? 1/10th scale? - What's the 10-minute version? 10-year version? 100-year version? - What second-order effects am I missing? Third-order? - What does the 10th person in the chain of consequences experience? Layer 4: Synthesis & Collision - What happens when I combine this with something from a completely different domain? - What's the metaphor from nature? From art? From history? - What emerges when I hold two contradictory truths simultaneously? - What pattern does this echo that I've seen elsewhere? Layer 5: Action & Iteration - What's the smallest experiment I could run today to test this? - What would I need to observe to change my mind? - What's reversible? What's irreversible? - What do I need to learn to have an informed opinion rather than an inherited one? The Meta-Question: "What lens am I not using that would transform how I see this?" ``` --- ## AI Prompts for Strategy and Strategic Analysis Eight prompts for strategic work with AI: reading the current situation, mapping the competitive landscape, building scenarios from real uncertainties, generating options that rest on different bets, and stress testing the path you choose. Page: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-strategy/ ### Action Plan Solution → sequenced plan with owners, dependencies, first steps. Topic: Problem solving, Strategy | Phase: Act & Learn | Function: Action | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-strategy/#action-plan ``` Turn the following solution or decision into a clear action plan. Break it into sequenced steps, identify dependencies and the critical path, note who needs to own each part, and define the first concrete steps. Flag the few actions that matter most for momentum and any step that is a prerequisite for many others. The solution or decision is: ``` ### Competitive Landscape Maps competitors, positioning, vulnerabilities, and white space. Topic: Strategy | Function: Analysis | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-strategy/#competitive-landscape ``` Map the competitive landscape for the following business or decision. Identify the key competitors and substitutes, how each is positioned, their strengths and vulnerabilities, and where the market is heading. Then locate the white space and the threats, and conclude with how this should shape our strategy. The business or decision is: ``` ### Criteria Matrix Elicits the user's criteria and weights, then scores the options. Topic: Problem solving, Strategy | Phase: Validate | Function: Evaluation | Type: Assistant Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-strategy/#criteria-matrix ``` Your role is to help me evaluate options rigorously against explicit criteria. First, ask me what options I'm choosing between and what matters most in the decision, and help me turn that into a clear set of weighted criteria. Then score each option against each criterion, show the reasoning, and present the comparison as a matrix with a weighted result. Flag where a small change in the weights would flip the answer. Start by asking what decision I'm trying to make. ``` ### Pre-Mortem "It failed a year from now — why?" Failure modes plus early-warning indicators. Topic: Problem solving, Strategy | Phase: Validate | Function: Evaluation | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-strategy/#pre-mortem ``` Assume it is one year from now and the following plan has failed badly. Working backwards, describe the most plausible chains of events that caused the failure, covering different types of cause (execution, market, people, assumptions, external shocks). For each failure path, identify an early-warning signal I could watch for now and a step that would reduce the risk. The plan is: ``` ### Scenario Analysis Builds distinct plausible futures from critical uncertainties to inform strategy. Topic: Strategy | Function: Analysis | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-strategy/#scenario-analysis ``` Build a set of scenarios for the following strategic question. Identify the critical uncertainties that will most shape the future, then construct three or four distinct, plausible scenarios — structurally different worlds, not just good and bad versions. For each, describe how it unfolds and what it would mean for us, and conclude with the moves that make sense across most scenarios. The strategic question is: ``` ### Scenario Stress-Test Test the chosen path against divergent future scenarios. Topic: Problem solving, Strategy | Phase: Act & Learn | Function: Evaluation | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-strategy/#scenario-stress-test ``` Stress-test the following plan against a range of plausible futures. Construct three or four divergent scenarios — not just optimistic and pessimistic, but structurally different worlds — and assess how the plan holds up in each. Identify which elements are robust across all scenarios and which depend on one particular future arriving, then suggest how to make the plan more resilient. The plan is: ``` ### Situation Analysis Assesses the current state, forces, and where leverage lies. Topic: Strategy | Function: Analysis | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-strategy/#situation-analysis ``` Analyze the current strategic situation described below. Assess the internal and external forces at play, the key dynamics and trends, what's driving them, and where the real leverage and constraints lie. Conclude with the two or three factors that matter most for the strategy ahead. The situation is: ``` ### Strategic Options Generator Generates genuinely distinct strategic paths resting on different bets. Topic: Strategy | Function: Ideation | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-strategy/#strategic-options-generator ``` For the following strategic challenge, generate a set of genuinely distinct strategic options — not variations on one idea, but different paths that rest on different bets. For each, capture the core logic, what would have to be true for it to win, and its main risk. Include at least one bold or contrarian option. The strategic challenge is: ``` ### Systems Analysis Sequence A sequenced whole-system analysis: diagnosis, scenarios, strategy, costing, and an executive case. Run the steps in order and let each answer feed the next. Topic: Strategy | Function: Analysis | Type: Assistant Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-strategy/#systems-analysis-sequence ``` Run these in order, as a sequence rather than a single request. Replace the bracketed terms, and let each answer inform the next step. 1. Diagnose. Analyze the current state of [system or sector] in [place or market]: its main components, how it performs on efficiency, access, cost and quality, and where the bottlenecks sit. 2. Decompose. Break the system into its main subsystems and describe each one. 3. Rank and baseline. Rank those subsystems by [criteria: cost, safety, speed, reach], estimate each one's share of use or importance, and state the average [key metric: time, cost, access] a user experiences today. 4. Expand. Bring in the adjacent systems and external factors currently outside the analysis: private sector, informal sector, technology, environment. 5. Trend and risk. How has [emerging factor] changed over the last [X years], and what risk does that shift carry? 6. Scenarios. Using a systems thinking approach, build four scenarios for the next [20 to 30 years] from two critical uncertainties. Name and justify the two variables, lay the scenarios out as a 2x2, and give a real-world analog for each. 7. Technology layer. How would plausible technological change alter each scenario? 8. Strategies. Propose three long-term strategies. For each: the objective, the key actions, and the expected effect on the system. 9. Roadmap. Sequence the work across short, medium and long term, with actions and expected outcomes at each stage. 10. Cost and funding. Estimate the investment each strategy needs, in ranges, and identify realistic funding sources across public, private and blended. 11. Prioritize under constraint. With a limited budget, which projects go first, weighing cost against impact against speed of implementation? 12. Simulate. Model how [key metric] moves as each phase lands, broken down by user group. Then simulate the worst case in which the main risks go unaddressed, and quantify its economic cost. 13. Decide and communicate. Turn the analysis into a cost-benefit case over [time horizon] with NPV, ROI, payback and a sensitivity check. Finish with a one-page executive summary. ``` --- ## AI Prompts for Research and Synthesis Six prompts for research work with AI: structuring a question before you start, finding where to look, checking whether a source deserves your trust, distilling what you read, and pulling out the implications rather than a summary. Page: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-research/ ### Distillation Summarizes a source into the format I need, preserving nuance. Topic: Research | Function: Synthesis | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-research/#distillation ``` Summarize the following material into the form I need. Capture the core argument, key evidence, and conclusions, and drop the filler. Unless I specify otherwise, give me a short headline takeaway, then the key points, then anything notable or surprising. Preserve important nuance and flag anything you're uncertain about. The material is: ``` ### Insight Extractor Pulls non-obvious insights and implications, not just a summary. Topic: Research | Function: Analysis | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-research/#insight-extractor ``` Go beyond summarizing the following material and pull out the non-obvious insights. Identify the implications, patterns, tensions, and 'so whats' that a careful reader would value but that aren't stated outright. For each, note what it means for me or my decision. The material is: ``` ### Landscape Map Maps the players, positions, and white space in a field or market. Topic: Research | Function: Synthesis | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-research/#landscape-map ``` Map the landscape of the following topic, field, or market. Lay out the main players, positions, schools of thought or segments, how they relate and differ, and where the tensions and white space lie. Conclude with what an informed observer should take away from the overall picture. The topic is: ``` ### Research Question Tree Breaks a topic into a structured tree of answerable questions. Topic: Research | Function: Framing | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-research/#research-question-tree ``` Break the following research topic into a structured set of questions. Start from the central question, then branch into the sub-questions that must be answered to address it, and note for each what kind of evidence would answer it. Order them so the most decisive questions come first. The research topic is: ``` ### Source Credibility Check Assesses reliability, bias, recency, and corroboration of a source. Topic: Research | Function: Evaluation | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-research/#source-credibility-check ``` Assess the credibility of the following source or claim. Consider the author and their expertise, the evidence and method, recency, potential bias or motive, and whether it's corroborated elsewhere. Conclude with how much weight to place on it and what to verify before relying on it. The source or claim is: ``` ### Source Discovery Identifies where to look and what's worth reading for a question. Topic: Research | Function: Research | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-research/#source-discovery ``` For the following research question, suggest where to look for high-quality information. Identify the types of sources most likely to hold the answer (reports, datasets, experts, publications, communities), name specific starting points where you can, and give search terms or angles for each. Flag where the best information is likely to be hard to find or paywalled. The research question is: ``` ### Pattern Detection in Qualitative Data Six angles on a set of interviews or open responses: recurring language, emotional tone, contradictions, and the pairings that reveal a shared theme. Topic: Research | Function: Analysis | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-research/#pattern-detection-in-qualitative-data ``` Pretend you’re a detective. What patterns or clues can you find in this data about the interviewee’s preferences, challenges, or goals? What are the recurring words, phrases, or metaphors used by participants? Group them into thematic clusters Summarize each speaker’s emotional tone and underlying needs. Group similar emotional patterns. Identify any contradictions or tensions in what people say they want vs. what they do. Group by type of tension Cluster participant comments around behavior, motivation, and barriers. What themes emerge across interviews? Play matchmaker. Which quotes or behaviors from different interviewees would you pair together, and why? What shared themes connect the ``` --- ## AI Prompts for Storytelling and Communication Eight prompts for making an idea land: profiling the audience, finding the single message that matters, shaping raw material into a narrative structure, generating openings that earn attention, and preparing for the questions you will be asked. Page: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-storytelling-communication/ ### Audience Profile Maps who you're addressing, what they care about, and what would make them act. Topic: Storytelling | Function: Framing | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-storytelling-communication/#audience-profile ``` Profile the audience for the following presentation or message. Describe who they are, what they care about, the pressures and goals they bring into the room, their likely starting attitude, and what would move them to act. For a client audience, connect this to their business priorities. Conclude with the two or three things I most need to land with them. The presentation and audience are: ``` ### Core Message Distiller Finds the single idea the audience should remember above all. Topic: Storytelling | Function: Synthesis | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-storytelling-communication/#core-message-distiller ``` Help me find the single core message of the following material — the one thing the audience should remember and repeat if they forget everything else. Propose two or three candidate core messages, each in one sentence, then recommend the strongest for my audience and explain why. Keep it sharp, specific, and free of jargon. The material is: ``` ### Engagement Techniques Suggests interaction, pacing, and pattern-breaks to keep a client audience engaged. Topic: Storytelling | Function: Communication | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-storytelling-communication/#engagement-techniques ``` For the following presentation, suggest ways to keep a client audience actively engaged rather than passively listening. Recommend specific techniques placed at the right moments — questions to pose, moments to invite input, a quick poll or exercise, pacing and pattern-breaks, points to make interactive — matched to the setting (boardroom, workshop, or virtual). Explain what each one achieves. The presentation is: ``` ### Hook Generator Generates varied openings that earn a client audience's attention fast. Topic: Storytelling | Function: Ideation | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-storytelling-communication/#hook-generator ``` Generate five distinct openings for the following presentation that will earn a client audience's attention in the first thirty seconds. Use varied devices — a surprising fact, a sharp question, a vivid scenario, a bold claim, a short story — and tie each to the audience's world. For each, note why it works and the kind of talk it suits best. The presentation is: ``` ### Proof & Credibility Identifies where claims need proof and what evidence would build client trust. Topic: Storytelling | Function: Communication | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-storytelling-communication/#proof-credibility ``` For the following claims or pitch, help me build credibility with a client audience. Identify where each key claim needs proof, and suggest the kinds of evidence that would land — data points, case examples, outcomes, references, demonstrations. Flag any claim that sounds like unsupported marketing and suggest how to make it credible. The claims or pitch are: ``` ### Q&A & Objection Prep Anticipates tough client questions and objections, with strong responses. Topic: Storytelling | Function: Evaluation | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-storytelling-communication/#q-a-objection-prep ``` Prepare me for the hard questions on the following presentation. Anticipate the toughest questions, objections, and points of scepticism a client audience might raise — including the unspoken ones — and for each suggest a strong, honest response. Flag the one or two that would be most damaging if I'm caught unprepared. The presentation is: ``` ### Story Structure Shapes raw material into a narrative structure (e.g. SCQA, problem-resolution arc). Topic: Storytelling | Function: Framing | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-storytelling-communication/#story-structure ``` Shape the following material into a clear narrative structure for a presentation. Recommend a suitable structure (such as SCQA — Situation, Complication, Question, Answer — or a problem-journey-resolution arc) and map my content onto it, showing the through-line from opening tension to resolution. Flag where the narrative is weak or where I'm missing a beat. The material is: ``` ### Useful Metaphors Generate analogies that map to a concept's structure, to aid understanding and communication. Topic: Problem solving, Storytelling | Function: Communication | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-storytelling-communication/#useful-metaphors ``` Generate five distinct analogies or metaphors that accurately map to the structure of the following concept, to deepen my understanding and help me explain it to others. Make them genuinely different from one another and draw from varied domains. For each, briefly note where the analogy holds and where it breaks down, so it clarifies rather than misleads. The concept is: ``` --- ## AI Prompts for Better Prompting Five prompts that work on the prompt itself: setting the role the model adopts and the audience it writes for, specifying the shape of the output, turning a rough request into a precise one, and having the model critique its own answer before you read it. Page: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-prompt-engineering/ ### Output Designer Specifies the structure, format, and length of the AI's response. Topic: Prompt Engineering | Function: Framing | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-prompt-engineering/#output-designer ``` For the following task, help me specify exactly what the AI's output should look like: its structure, format, length, and level of detail, plus anything to include or avoid. Give me a clear output specification I can add to my prompt, and suggest the format that best fits how I'll use the result. The task is: ``` ### Prompt Generator Interviews the user, then produces an optimized prompt for their task. Topic: Prompt Engineering | Function: Framing | Type: Assistant Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-prompt-engineering/#prompt-generator ``` Your role is to help me build a high-quality prompt for a task I have in mind. Ask me focused questions — one at a time — to draw out the task, the context the model needs, any constraints, and the output I want. When you have enough, write a clear, well-structured prompt I can reuse, and explain the choices you made so I learn the craft. Start by asking what I'm trying to get the AI to do. ``` ### Prompt Improver Diagnoses and rewrites a rough prompt into a clear, well-structured one. Topic: Prompt Engineering | Function: Framing | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-prompt-engineering/#prompt-improver ``` Take the following prompt and improve it. Diagnose what's vague, missing, or likely to produce weak results, then rewrite it into a clear, well-structured version with an explicit task, the relevant context, any constraints, and the desired output format. Briefly note the key changes you made and why, so I can apply the lessons next time. The prompt is: ``` ### Role & Audience Setter Defines the persona the AI adopts and the audience it writes for. Topic: Prompt Engineering | Function: Framing | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-prompt-engineering/#role-audience-setter ``` For the following task, help me define two things that strongly shape AI output: the role or persona the AI should adopt (its expertise and stance) and the audience the response is for (their knowledge, needs, and what they'll do with it). Propose a clear role-and-audience framing I can paste at the start of my prompt, and note how it should change the tone and depth of the response. The task is: ``` ### Self-Critique Loop Has the model critique and improve its own output against criteria, in rounds. Topic: Prompt Engineering | Function: Evaluation | Type: Assistant Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-prompt-engineering/#self-critique-loop ``` Your role is to improve your own output through critique. After I give you a task, produce a first attempt, then critique it against the criteria that matter for this task — naming specific weaknesses, not vague ones — and produce an improved version. Repeat if it's still short of strong. Show each round briefly so I can see what changed. Start by asking for the task and what a great result would look like. ``` --- ## AI Prompts for Building Software with AI Six prompts for the thinking that comes before the code: turning a rough idea into a brief, defining who the product is for, mapping the user flow, sorting features into what a first version needs, and converting a specification into a sequence of build prompts. Page: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-building-with-ai/ ### Build-Prompt Generator Turns a spec into a sequence of precise prompts for an AI coding tool. Topic: Vibe Coding | Function: Communication | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-building-with-ai/#build-prompt-generator ``` Turn the following spec or feature into clear prompts for an AI coding tool (such as Lovable, Cursor, or Claude). Break the build into a logical sequence of steps, and for each write a precise prompt stating what to build, the relevant context, and what 'done' looks like. Note where I should test before moving to the next step. The spec or feature is: ``` ### Feature Prioritizer Sorts features into must / should / could for a first version. Topic: Vibe Coding | Function: Evaluation | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-building-with-ai/#feature-prioritizer ``` For the following product and its candidate features, help me prioritize. Sort the features into must-have, should-have, and could-have for a first version, judging each on user value and effort. Recommend what to build first and what to defer, and flag any feature that seems essential but isn't. The product and features are: ``` ### Project Brief Builder Turns a rough product idea into a clear project brief before building. Topic: Vibe Coding | Function: Framing | Type: Assistant Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-building-with-ai/#project-brief-builder ``` Your role is to help me turn a rough product idea into a clear project brief before any building starts. Ask me focused questions — one at a time — to pin down what we're building, the problem it solves, who it's for, the core outcome, and the constraints. When you have enough, write a concise brief (purpose, users, core features, constraints, success criteria) and check it with me. Start by asking what I want to build and the problem behind it. ``` ### Spec / PRD Writer Turns an idea or brief into a structured build spec a builder could work from. Topic: Vibe Coding | Function: Synthesis | Type: Assistant Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-building-with-ai/#spec-prd-writer ``` Your role is to help me turn an idea or brief into a clear build specification. Working from what I give you, draft a structured spec — purpose, users, features with what each should do, key user flows, requirements, and what's out of scope — asking me about anything ambiguous rather than guessing. Keep it precise enough that a builder (human or AI) could work from it. Start by asking me to share the idea or brief. ``` ### User Flow Mapper Maps the steps a user takes through the product, with drop-off risks. Topic: Vibe Coding | Function: Framing | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-building-with-ai/#user-flow-mapper ``` Map the key user flows for the following product. For each main task a user needs to accomplish, lay out the steps from entry to completion, the decisions and screens along the way, and where things could go wrong or users could drop off. Flag the one or two flows that matter most to get right. The product is: ``` ### User Personas Generates relevant user personas and what each would want from the product. Topic: Vibe Coding | Function: Framing | Type: Prompt Permalink: https://humansplus.ai/resources/ai-prompts-building-with-ai/#user-personas ``` For the following product or project, generate the key user personas it needs to serve. Create three or four distinct personas — each with their context, goals, and frustrations — and for each, spell out what they would most want from the product and what would make them abandon it. Flag which persona is the primary one to design for. The product or project is: ``` --- End of library. 68 prompt entries across 6 topic pages.