Replit case study cover
Exploring how to teach users how to write better prompts implicitly.
ROLE
Product Designer
TIMELINE
1 Week
TEAM
Just me!
context
Replit enables anyone to turn natural language into working code, but for first-time users, whether the product “works” for them is dictated by the very first prompt. This case study explores how educating users on what makes a successful prompt leads to the best “Aha” moment, building confidence, trust in the system, and a habit of returning to Replit because their inputs consistently produce meaningful results.
Current user journey
User Journey

When starting to use Replit, users often don't know how to successfully prompt the system. The issue isn't technical capacity, it's the ability to translate their thoughts into appropriate prompts for replit's agent.

Pain point
Users lack the knowledge of how to properly prompt Replit's agent for successful results.
Prompt surfacing
Prompt editor
Theme chips
Theme chips
Solution
Prompt editor
Prompt editor

The Prompt Editor provides real-time, inline suggestions that help users refine their prompts and understand how input changes impact output. This helps maintain momentum and support the user where they are. Instead of following lengthy tutorials, the user can simply look at suggestions and accept them, directly improving their prompt. This also implicitly teaches the user what a successful prompt is and builds the habit.

Prompt editor 1

When the user types in a prompt that is too short or not specific enough, the system flags it with a subtle highlight.

Prompt editor 2

The user can simply select suggested improvements. This maintains momentum and meets the user where they already are.

Prompt editor 3

The changes are automatically implemented.

Animated empty states
Animated empty states
Animated Empty States

The goal here is to incorporate a shadow of how the user needs to act as soon as they land on the home page. It is meant to remove friction and decision fatigue by almost spoon feeding users ideas while showing them what their first action needs to be.

Prompt suggestions
Prompt suggestions
Prompt Suggestions

Contextual prompt suggestions guide users toward higher-quality inputs by surfacing relevant starting points. Rather than facing a blank canvas, users can select from intelligent suggestions that demonstrate effective prompting patterns, reducing friction and accelerating time to first successful output.