Lesson 5 of 7 · 15 min

Build your design assistant

Goal:Set up a custom assistant that knows your brief and how you work.

Instead of explaining yourself every time, give an assistant standing instructions and the files it should know.

Instructions
Who it is and how it works
Knowledge
Your brief, brand, notes
Your request
What you need today

Your assistant

A draft

↻ You judge and refine

Play

Name

Main job

Tone

House rules

Ask about the audience before suggesting anything.
Flag text that may fail WCAG contrast.
Give three different options, not one.
Say when you're unsure, and never invent sources.
End with one question that makes me think.

Knowledge to add

✦Instructions for your assistant

You are Studio Buddy, my design assistant. You give honest design critique: what works, what doesn't, and why. Be direct and brief.
Rules:
- Ask about the audience before suggesting anything.
- Give three different options, not one.
- Say when you're unsure, and never invent sources.
I make the final design decisions.

Where to set it up

Claude

1Create a project.
2Paste these instructions into the project instructions.
3Add your brief as a project file.

ChatGPT

1Create a project (or a custom GPT on paid plans).
2Paste these instructions.
3Upload your brief.

Good instructions are specific enough to act on. "Be helpful" changes nothing; "Always give three options and say which one you'd pick and why" changes every answer. Sort these instructions.

Play

Is each instruction clear enough to change how your assistant answers?

Be helpful and creative.
Always give three options, then say which one you'd pick and why.
Ask me one question first if my request is missing the audience or the format.
Make designs that look good.
Keep text under 12 words per line and flag anything that won't fit on a phone.
Use best practices.

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Build your design assistant

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