The prompt is not the product contract
A user request is often intentionally short: create a login page, add billing, make a dashboard, or launch a marketing site. That sentence is valuable because it names the desired direction, but it does not yet define behavior, boundaries, or proof of completion.
Adding more instructions to the same prompt can create the appearance of detail without resolving the decisions that matter. An agent may produce a polished screen while silently choosing authentication methods, validation rules, recovery states, permissions, analytics, or responsive behavior on the user's behalf.
Clarity does not come from a longer prompt. It comes from decisions that somebody can inspect and approve.
Ask questions people can actually answer
A useful interview explains why a decision matters, gives a concrete example, recommends a safe default, and lets the user accept or change it. The user should never be left facing a technical question with no frame of reference.
For a login experience, ask whether people sign in with email and password, a magic link, or a provider. Explain how that choice changes fields, recovery, security, and delivery states. Recommend a default appropriate to the product, then record the answer.
- State the visible impact of the decision.
- Use a realistic example rather than implementation jargon.
- Offer one recommended default with a reason.
- Record assumptions and unresolved choices instead of hiding them.
Turn accepted answers into versioned evidence
The accepted interview becomes a Specification. The PRD then derives user stories, state models, functional requirements, non-functional requirements, risks, and acceptance criteria from that exact revision.
When a requirement changes, downstream UX, prototype, development, and QA evidence can be marked stale. This is the practical advantage of a contract: every participant knows what changed, what remains valid, and what must be verified again.
- Reference the Specification revision from the PRD.
- Map acceptance criteria to current-revision evidence.
- Require named approvals at lifecycle gates.
- Keep unresolved warnings visible until their cause is addressed.