Until a few months ago I had no idea this role even existed. Now I am fascinated by it.
So, what does a Prompt Designer do? They are translators between humans and AI. They know how to “talk” to artificial intelligence to get the best results, turning our messy, creative ideas into clear instructions that AI can actually work with.
Why am I so excited about this? Because every time we use ChatGPT, Claude or any AI tool, the quality of our results depends on how we ask. And that is a skill that can be learned.
The AUTOMAT framework
AUTOMAT is an acronym I use to structure my prompts more intentionally:
- A. Act as a particular persona. Who is the AI impersonating?
- U. User persona and audience. Who is it talking to?
- T. Targeted action. What do you want it to do?
- O. Output definition. How should the response be structured?
- M. Mode, tonality, style. How should it communicate?
- A. Atypical cases. Are there edge cases to handle differently?
- T. Topic whitelisting. What relevant topics can it discuss?
The framework sounds technical but it is really just common sense made explicit. When you ask a colleague for something, you naturally give them context, specify the format you need and tell them who it is for. We forget to do this with AI, and then wonder why the output is generic.
I am still learning this. But the more I practise, the more I see prompt design as a form of communication design, and that feels very close to what I have always cared about.