What Makes a Good Prompt?
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Assume you're learning Excel and you ask Claude "explain XLOOKUP". You'll get a solid, generic explanation — the kind you'd find in the first search result. Not wrong, just not built for you. It doesn't know you already know VLOOKUP, that you specifically keep messing up lookups with multiple conditions, or that you need this in the next twenty minutes for an actual report.
Whatever you're actually learning, the same four things separate a generic answer from one built for you:
- Context — who you are, where you're starting from. "I already know VLOOKUP but keep messing up lookups with more than one condition";
- Instruction — the actual verb. "Explain", "quiz me on", "check my formula for";
- Format — the shape of the answer. "Under 150 words", "one worked example, no theory";
- Constraint — what to skip. "Don't repeat the basics I already know".
Same Question, Different Prompt
Weak: explain XLOOKUP
→ A generic wall of text covering syntax, history, and basic examples you don't need.
Strong: I already know VLOOKUP but keep messing up lookups with more than one condition. Explain how XLOOKUP handles multi-condition lookups, with one worked example. Under 150 words, skip the basics.
→ A short, targeted answer aimed at the actual gap.
Same model, roughly the same question. Completely different usefulness, and that holds no matter what you're actually trying to learn.
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