Define the user and task before you prompt any AI tool
Most vibe-coding sessions fail before a single word hits the prompt box. The fix, according to Steve Petersen writing for MarTech, is to define the user, the task, and what success looks like before you generate anything.
Borrow from Software Dev, Not Prompt Guides
The argument is not about prompt engineering tricks. It’s about applying established development practices to AI-assisted work. Specifically, user stories and acceptance criteria, the same tools a product team uses before writing a line of code, give an AI model clearer direction and reduce the back-and-forth that burns time.
Without that upfront definition, the AI is guessing at context you already have in your head. You end up iterating on output that was never aimed at the right target.
The BRD Connection
Petersen points to the Business Requirements Document as the upstream discipline that makes everything downstream sharper. A clear business vision in a BRD helps a programmer, a graphic designer, or a vibe-coding marketer make decisions that align with it.
The same logic applies when that marketer is prompting an AI to build a landing page, write a campaign brief, or generate a workflow. If the vision is fuzzy going in, the output will be fuzzy coming out.
The Operator Takeaway
If you’re using AI to build anything, even a quick script or a one-page tool, spend five minutes writing down three things before you open the chat:
- Who is the end user and what do they need to accomplish?
- What is the specific task this output needs to perform?
- What does a successful result look like, in concrete terms?
That’s a user story. It takes less time to write than a mediocre prompt, and it makes every prompt you write after it better.
I’m founder of BizStack at Cagri Sarigoz LLC and a passionate advocate for entrepreneurs.
With over 14 years in tech, marketing, and AI, including my role as Head of SEO at CitizenShipper and co-founder of TaleBot at Intale AI, I’m dedicated to sharing genuine, useful product insights and tips.
At BizStack, I aim to cut through the digital noise to provide clear, actionable advice.
And more than all else, I’m a father to a (always) little girl and a husband.
Contact me at [email protected] for assistance.
