Prompt Guide
Table of Contents
Overview
AI prompts are the key to building exactly what you envision. A prompt is simply the description of what you want to build — think of it as explaining your app idea to a colleague who can build it for you. The clearer your explanation, the better your app turns out.
This guide covers 12 proven principles for writing effective Genesis prompts.
Workspace DNA hint: The better your prompts, the richer your workspace DNA becomes. Every app you build adds to your Intelligence Score and makes future apps smarter.
The 12 Prompt Principles
1. Set Objectives
Explain who uses this and why it matters.
Name the user
Tells Genesis who the interface is for
State the purpose
Defines the core problem being solved
Add business context
Helps Genesis make smarter design decisions
Examples:
"My restaurant staff needs to track inventory daily and get alerts when we're running low on key ingredients."
Restaurant staff
Inventory management
"My real estate team needs to track property leads and automatically follow up with prospects who haven't responded in 48 hours."
Sales team
Lead management + automation
"Our consulting clients need a portal where they can access project deliverables, schedule meetings, and track billable hours."
External clients
Client portal
2. Describe Outcomes
Be specific about functionality. Vague requests get vague results.
"Make a project tool"
"Customers upload project files, see progress updates, message our team, and download final files. Everyone gets notifications for each step."
"Build an expense tracker"
"Employees submit expense reports with receipts, managers approve or reject, accounting gets notified, reimbursements tracked until payment."
"Create a learning app"
"Students watch course videos, complete quizzes, track progress, and receive certificates. Instructors see engagement analytics."
3. Explain the Journey
Walk Genesis through how people will actually use your app.
Onboarding
"New users sign up, answer questions about their needs, get matched with resources"
Core Usage
"Customers browse the service catalog, request quotes, upload requirements"
Completion
"Review proposals, approve work, rate their experience afterward"
Follow-up
"Receive weekly personalized updates based on usage patterns"
4. Break Down Ideas
For bigger projects, use numbered steps.
Sales Dashboard
"1. Show real-time sales on a dashboard 2. Let users filter by product type 3. Add export buttons for reports 4. Send alerts when sales drop"
Feedback System
"1. Collect customer feedback through forms 2. Categorize by department 3. Route urgent issues to management 4. Generate monthly reports 5. Send follow-up surveys automatically"
Booking App
"1. Display available appointment slots 2. Let clients book and pay online 3. Send confirmation emails and calendar invites 4. Allow rescheduling with 24-hour notice 5. Collect feedback after appointments"
5. Connect Tools
Tell Genesis what you already use so it can connect everything.
Genesis supports 100+ integrations. Mention your tools and Genesis creates the automation flows automatically.
Google Suite + Slack
"Import customer data from Google Sheets and send email notifications via Gmail. Connect to Slack for team alerts."
WhatsApp + Database
"Connect to WhatsApp Business for client communication. Integrate with our existing project database for customer records."
Multi-tool
"Pull inventory from Google Sheets, connect to accounting project for cost tracking, send low-stock alerts to Slack."
Available integrations include:
Communication
Slack, Discord, Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp Business, Twilio SMS
Gmail, Outlook, Mailchimp
Productivity
Google Sheets, Docs, Drive, Calendar, Forms, Calendly
CRM
HubSpot, Apollo
Social
Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Reddit
Dev
GitHub, HTTP/Webhooks
Content
WordPress, Webflow
6. Set the Tone
Your app should sound like your business.
Professional & friendly
"Keep it professional but friendly, like talking to customers in person. Make error messages helpful, not technical."
Customer-facing portals
Encouraging & supportive
"Use an encouraging, supportive tone like a personal fitness coach. Celebrate achievements and make setbacks feel manageable."
Wellness, education apps
Authoritative & trustworthy
"Sound like a trusted financial advisor — authoritative but not intimidating. Simple language for complex topics."
Finance, legal, healthcare
Casual & energetic
"Keep it casual and fun, like texting a friend. Use short sentences and emojis where appropriate."
Consumer apps, social tools
7. Choose Look & Feel
Tell Genesis how you want your app to look.
Brand-aligned
"Clean, modern design with our brand colors: navy blue headers and bright green accent buttons. Company logo top left."
Warm & calming
"Warm design with soft colors — cream backgrounds and sage green accents. Rounded corners and gentle shadows."
Bold & energetic
"Bold orange and black colors. Strong typography and high-contrast buttons that motivate action."
Dark & premium
"Dark theme with neon accents, like a high-tech dashboard. Charcoal backgrounds with electric blue highlights."
Deep dive: Guide to App Styles covers minimalist, glassmorphism, neumorphism, material design, and more.
8. Define Access
Be clear about who can do what.
Multi-tier
"Staff view all projects and add updates. Clients only see their own projects and can't edit. Managers access everything plus analytics."
Educational
"Students access courses and submit assignments. Instructors grade and message. Administrators manage all users and see reports."
Corporate
"Employees log hours and submit requests. Department heads approve their team's requests. HR accesses all data and generates reports."
9. Iterate Easily
Your app is never set in stone. Refine with follow-up prompts.
Add feature
"The form works great — add file upload after the description and make the submit button bigger."
Move elements
"Love the dashboard, but move notifications to top right and make charts more colorful."
Add automation
"Add a text reminder 24 hours before appointments and let customers reschedule themselves."
Embed agent
"Add a chat widget powered by the support agent in the bottom right corner."
Connect integration
"When a new booking is made, create a Google Calendar event and send a Slack notification."
10. Reference
Mention apps or websites with features you like.
Stripe-style
"Dashboard layout similar to Stripe — clean cards with key metrics up top and detailed tables below. Simplify navigation."
Udemy-style
"Course layout like Udemy — video player left, course outline right, clean progress bar. More personal, less corporate."
Calendly-style
"Booking interface like Calendly — simple date/time selection with instant confirmation. Add our branding and service descriptions."
11. Provide Examples
Demonstrate workflows by describing specific scenarios.
Customer inquiry
"Contact form submitted → Create lead record → Send welcome email → Notify sales team → Set 3-day follow-up reminder"
New employee
"HR creates profile → Send welcome email with login → Employee completes onboarding forms → Manager notified → Training modules assigned"
Order process
"Customer places order → Inventory updated → Payment processed → Shipping label created → Customer gets tracking → Follow-up review request"
12. Experiment
Genesis saves your work automatically. Try bold changes.
Layout overhaul
"Let's completely redesign the homepage layout"
Simplification
"Remove the pricing section and replace with a simple contact form"
Paradigm shift
"Turn this form into a conversational chatbot experience"
Gamification
"Make this feel like a game with points and achievements instead of a boring business tool"
Safety net: Use Genesis Version History to restore any previous version if an experiment doesn't work out.
Prompt Anatomy Quick Reference
Use this cheat sheet when building:
Starting
"Build a simple...", "Create an app that...", "I need a system for...", "Design a tool to..."
Context
"I run a [business type] and need...", "My team of [N] people needs to...", "Our customers often ask for..."
Changes
"Change the [element] to...", "Add a feature that...", "Remove [feature] and replace with...", "Make it more [adjective]"
Connections
"When [trigger], then [action]", "Sync this with...", "Export data to...", "Import from..."
Agents
"Create an agent that...", "Train the agent on...", "Embed the agent in...", "Make the agent respond like..."
Automations
"Automate [process]...", "When [event] happens, send...", "Schedule [action] every...", "Connect to [tool]..."
Common Mistakes to Avoid
"Make me an app"
Too vague — Genesis can't read your mind
"Build a customer feedback form with star ratings and email notifications"
Asking for everything at once
Overloaded prompt produces confused results
Start simple, iterate with follow-ups
Ignoring integrations
Misses the power of 100+ connected tools
Always mention your existing tools
Not testing iteratively
Bugs compound if you don't catch them early
Test after every change
Forgetting about agents
Misses the intelligence pillar entirely
Consider: "Who would I hire to manage this?" — that's your agent
Skipping permissions
Everyone sees everything
Define roles and access levels
What's Next
Copy-ready prompts for common app types
Visual style families with practical prompts
Upload reference files for richer apps
Browse the full prompt template collection
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