Get AI to write your prompts

Mastering the Art of Prompt Engineering

If there's one thing we've learned about using ChatGPT effectively, it's this: writing a good prompt is essential. A well-crafted prompt makes the difference between getting something almost useful and something absolutely awesome.

To make it easier for our whole team, we went a step further—we built a custom GPT specifically for creating prompts. We developed a kind of "Prompt Buddy." This handy AI tool interacts with our team members, asking intelligent questions to help refine their prompts. It's like having a conversation with a colleague who knows exactly how to make ChatGPT give you just what you need.

For example, say one of our developers wants to create a React component for a calendar. The initial prompt might be something like: 

"Create a prompt for a React component for a calendar." 

After interacting with our custom GPT,where it would ask questions like, “do you want to include multi-date selection” or “time zone selection”, the refined prompt might end up as: 

"Create a comprehensive React calendar component that includes multi-date selection, time selection, time zone selection, and recurring event functionality. The component should support smooth month navigation, highlight the current day, and enable users to select multiple dates with specific times. Include dark mode, customizable theme colors, and ensure it is fully responsive and touch-friendly for both desktop and mobile devices. Integrate Google Calendar to display and sync events, allowing users to manage single and recurring events directly within the component. Provide detailed inline comments within the code for clarity and maintainability, and include thorough documentation covering setup, customization options, available props, and usage examples."

Think of it as an in-house AI trainer, guiding our team members to create better prompts without breaking a sweat. Whether you're trying to describe a gnarly bug or outline the skeleton of a new feature, this tool helps you shape the perfect question to get the best possible response from ChatGPT.

Step 2: From Prompts to Productivity

But the prompts are only just the beginning. Once that’s done, we take those supercharged prompts and apply them directly to our daily tasks—and the results have been pretty impressive.

Imagine you're planning out a new feature in Jira. With the right prompt, we can have ChatGPT not only generate ideas but even help set up Jira tasks. It’s like having an extra set of hands to get the sprint boards filled out faster. Or maybe you're working on a particularly thorny bit of code. Instead of hours lost in the weeds, a well-crafted prompt can help ChatGPT spit out a design, a solution, or even a chunk of code that’s almost ready to go—complete with documentation and comments.

Here's a quick example:

• Task: Creating a new API endpoint.
• Prompt: Our custom "Prompt Buddy" helps us refine our request: "I need to create an API endpoint for managing user profiles. It should include CRUD operations, handle errors gracefully, and follow REST principles. I also need the test cases and comments for each major part."
• Result: ChatGPT delivers the code, with comments, and even a couple of test cases. It’s not perfect, but it saves a lot of time and lets us focus on refining rather than building from scratch.

We’re also using AI to help generate documentation and write test cases. Because - and I probably speak for most software developers out there, I might love to code, but testing is not always my number one motivator. With ChatGPT, we can get those test cases drafted quickly, leaving us to tweak and perfect rather than spend time on the tedious bits.

Teamwork + AI = Faster Coding and less burnout

None of this is about replacing people. It’s about taking the boring and repetitive bits and giving them to machines so we can be inventive. By embracing AI, we’re freeing up more time to focus on the creative aspects of coding. Our developers can spend more energy on problem-solving and big-picture thinking, while ChatGPT takes on the repetitive and mundane.

And because we’ve tailored the process with our own custom GPT, it’s truly a team-specific solution. Everyone’s learning how to make better prompts, everyone’s getting faster, and we’re all getting a little more sleep at night—or at least fewer frustrated sighs during the day.

Summary

Embracing AI has been like adding a power-up to our development workflow. With custom prompt creation and clever integration of ChatGPT into our day-to-day tasks, we’re coding faster and with a lot more confidence. We’re not just typing away—we’re leveraging every tool we can to make our code smarter, our processes smoother, and our team happier.

If you’re interested in learning more please drop us a line. We’re happy to share what we’re up to.