Choose a reference suited to your type of work
When you tell the assistant “I want a professional design” or “Write in a simple style,” these words can mean different things. Showing it an example and explaining what you like reduces much of the guesswork. The reference could be an image, page, presentation, or samples of your writing.
But attaching the example alone is not enough. You might like the spacing and text arrangement while it assumes you want the same colors or person in the photo. Explain each reference’s role: this one for information layout, this one for lighting, and this one for the explanation approach. Then analyze what you can learn from it and turn that into instructions suited to the new content, without imitating details unrelated to your work.
Analyze the reference and identify what you like
Ask for a reference analysis first. For design: visual flow, fonts, spacing, colors, and the relationship between image and text. For writing: the opening, sentence length, vocabulary, and transitions between ideas. For video: shots, movement, and their relationship to audio.
Review the analysis. The model might think you like the image’s subject when you mean its camera angle, or imitate words when you mean how the idea is built.
Copy the prompt as it is, or tailor it with your details first.
Tailor the prompt to your workOptional: add your details and the prompt adjusts itself
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Turn observations into instructions suited to your content
Once you agree on the analysis, write clear rules suited to the new content. For example: one clear title, comfortable spacing, and a few points, or an explanation that starts with a situation, then the idea, then an application.
If the reference includes people or products, distinguish a style reference from an image of a subject whose identity must be preserved. Explain which image is for identity and which is for lighting or composition.
Compare the result with the reference and request a specific change
Identify the difference: the font is smaller than in the reference, the text is crowded, the opening is generic, or the movement is unrelated to the meaning. Request a specific change and review a new version before adding more changes.
Keep the instructions that proved useful and examples of acceptable results in a project workspace or skill. Next time, you will start from a reviewed attempt instead of describing everything again.
Choose one piece of work you like and a previous result you are unhappy with. Identify three differences between them and turn each into an instruction you can check.