Few-Shot Prompting
Few-shot prompting includes a small number of example input/output pairs in the prompt so the model mimics your format, tone, or decision style.
Products embed few-shot examples invisibly (starter templates) or visibly (“See examples”) to raise first-reply quality.
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What it means
You show the model one to several demonstrations of the task done correctly, then ask it to handle a new input the same way.
Why designers should care
Few-shot is a design lever for consistency (release notes, support macros, UX microcopy, critique rubrics) without retraining the model.
Example
A UX writing assistant ships with three approved before/after microcopy pairs in the system layer. Users pick “Error message” and the model matches your voice on the first draft.
Common mistakes
- • Examples that contradict each other or drift from brand guidelines.
- • Too many long examples that eat the context window before user content fits.
- • Examples visible to users but not editable, causing mistrust when output diverges.