PIZZA.
One framework. Five letters. Run it before you touch a prompt.
Five letters. Each one is the difference between a prompt that ships and a prompt that guesses.
P
Persona.
Who it's for. A specific named person — not "users," not "people."
// for your app
bad"small business owners who want to track tasks"
good"Maya, freelance designer, 8 client projects, lives in Notion and sticky notes"
I
Intent.
The single job it's hired to do. One sentence. No "and."
// for your app
bad"help with productivity"
good"show Maya every overdue task across all 8 clients in one glance"
Z
Zones.
The parts and where each part goes. Screens / layers / layout.
// for your app
bad"it'll have a dashboard"
good"3 screens: overdue list, per-client drill-down, quick-add. Empty state = confetti."
Z
Zen.
The reference vibe. What it should feel like — name 2–3 anchors.
// for your app
bad"modern and clean"
good"Airbnb meets a paper journal. Warm whites. Big serif headlines. Soft photography."
A
Actions.
Every verb. How it's made, how it's used, what the system does back.
// for your app
bad"users can manage tasks"
good"Add (key A). Done (Space). Drag to reorder. System auto-flags overdue red. No login."
// sample prompt · all five letters
mouth test: pass
Build an app for [P] Maya, a freelance designer juggling 8 client projects who currently lives in Notion + sticky notes. [I] One job: show her every overdue task across all 8 clients in one glance — nothing else. [Z·Zones] Three screens only: 1. Overdue list (default) 2. Per-client drill-down 3. Quick-add (one input, no fields) Empty state = confetti, not a chart. [Z·Zen] Airbnb hospitality meets a paper journal. Warm whites, serif headlines, generous whitespace. NOT a productivity dashboard. [A] Actions: - Press A → quick-add - Press Space → mark done - Drag rows to reorder - System auto-flags >24h as red - No login, no settings, no notifications
// the mouth test
Three questions. Pass all three before you prompt.
- 01.Could two strangers build the same thing from your spec?
- 02.Did you name your user? Not "users." A name.
- 03.Did you list what NOT to build?