Build with AI: From Zero to Your First App · Module 2: Writing useful prompts and briefs · Lab
From Vague Request to Restaurant Brief
35 min hands-on · Core
Browser only. The vague owner request below is provided as starter material; you need no account anywhere.
Three ways to do this lab. A: the browser steps below, the main path, free with no account. B: try the same task with your own AI tool if you have one (its terms and quotas apply). C: work from the provided material and the worked solution below, which teaches the same skill. No path claims you used a live AI tool when you did not.
Objectives
- Turn a vague restaurant request into a one-sentence problem statement
- Write the full seven-part brief with an explicit out-list
- Produce a copyable prompt that carries the whole brief
Step 1
Read the vague request
The owner says: 'I need something online for my place. People should find us and order somehow. Make it nice and modern, with everything a restaurant site has.' List everything this request leaves undecided: who orders, what they order, how they pay, what done looks like.
vague-request.mdmarkdown VAGUE OWNER REQUEST (synthetic practice material, all data invented)\n---\n'I need something online for my place. People should find us and order somehow. Make it nice and modern, with everything a restaurant site has.'\n\nHidden facts (revealed after your first try): a family pide house, lunch crowd from nearby offices, phone orders only, open 11:00-22:00, closed Sundays, no delivery, no online payment, one page wanted.Step 2
Write the problem sentence and the seven parts
First write the one-sentence problem statement from lesson 5 (user struggles with job because workaround; version one will smallest fix). Then expand it into all seven brief parts: goal, user, context, scope (in and out), example, constraints, expected output. The out-list must name at least three items.
Step 3
Produce the copyable prompt
Compress the brief into one copyable prompt under 200 words that a chat tool or app builder could build from directly. Keep the out-list and the output shape; cut adjectives, keep decisions.
How to confirm it worked
- One problem sentence naming user, job, workaround and smallest fix
- All seven brief parts present with concrete content
- Out-list names at least three excluded items by name
- Copyable prompt under 200 words carrying scope and output shape
Workspace
0/3 checks passing · Coverage only, not a quality score.
Draft kept in this browser.
Hints, in three stages
Stage 1: a nudge
The hidden facts are revealed on purpose after your first try. First list the gaps from the vague text alone, then fill them.
Stage 2: a direction
'Everything a restaurant site has' is the scope enemy. Your out-list should include online payment, delivery tracking and reservations at minimum.
Stage 3: almost the answer
The prompt is the brief minus explanation. Keep goal, user, in/out scope, the example order and the output shape; delete every adjective.
Worked solution (open after an honest attempt)
Worked solution. Problem sentence: 'Office workers nearby struggle with lunch pide orders because phone lines jam at noon; version one will show menu, hours and a phone-order form with name, items and pickup time.' Seven parts: goal (take lunch orders without jammed phones), user (office lunch crowd plus the owner reading orders on a phone), context (phone orders today, 11:00-22:00, closed Sundays, no delivery, no online payment), scope in (menu, hours, order form with name/items/pickup time) and out (online payment, delivery tracking, reservations, customer accounts), example (Tuesday 12:10, order of 4 kiymali for 12:45 pickup visible on the owner's phone), constraints (one page, phone-friendly, simple words), output (list sections first, then two sentences each, then form fields as a list). Copyable prompt (under 200 words): 'Goal: take lunch pide orders without jammed phone lines. User: office lunch crowd; owner reads orders on a phone. Context: phone orders today, 11:00-22:00, closed Sundays, no delivery, no online payment. Scope in: menu, hours, order form (name, items, pickup time). Out: online payment, delivery tracking, reservations, accounts. Example: Tuesday 12:10 order of 4 kiymali for 12:45 pickup visible on phone. Constraints: one page, phone-friendly, simple words. Output: list the sections first, then two sentences each, then the form fields as a list.'