Yesterday a builder shared Briefle on r/PromptEngineering, and the idea is simple enough to explain over coffee. It’s a tool that trains your prompt vocabulary instead of handing you more prompt templates.
What’s new
Briefle is a set of short puzzle courses. Each puzzle shows you two versions of the same thing. It could be a design, an email, a chart or a piece of code. Your job is to work out why one beats the other. Then you learn the name for that principle and practice using it in a prompt.
The twist
Most prompt tools give you a better prompt to copy. Briefle goes the other way. It trains your eye first.
The example from the post says it best. “Make it look better” gets you something generic. “Give the price more visual weight and make the secondary button a ghost button” gets you what you pictured. The AI didn’t get smarter between those two prompts. You just knew what to ask for.
That’s the leverage. A template works for one task. A term like visual weight or ghost button works on every design you ever prompt for.
Mini-workflow
- 🔍 Open a course at briefle.org. The first room of each course is free and needs no account.
- 🧩 Compare the two versions side by side and pick the stronger one.
- 📖 Read why it won and note the term for the principle.
- ✍️ Write a prompt that uses that term on your own work.
Pro tips
- Keep a running list of the terms you pick up. Paste it into your own notes and reuse the words in real prompts that same day.
- Try it on the work you do most. If you write emails all week, start with the email course. The payoff shows up faster.
- Tell the maker where the puzzles feel too easy or too hard. They asked for exactly that feedback, and early builders listen.
The honest take
The comments weren’t all warm. One person asked if this was just a plug, and yes, the author is promoting their own product. Another said you can just ask the AI to write the prompt for you, which does work in plenty of cases. Someone else pointed out that talking to your agent like a person already gets good results.
All fair. My read is that those tricks help most when you already know what good looks like. Briefle is aimed at the gap before that, where you can feel something is off but can’t name it. Since the first room is free, you can find out in a few minutes whether it clicks for you.
Your move
🚀 Try one free room, then tell me which term you walked away with. Drop it in the comments and I’ll steal a few for my own prompts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Do I need to learn the vocabulary, or can I just have the AI write the prompt?
One reader describes what they want to achieve and asks the AI to write the prompt, then tweaks it from there. That’s a fast way to get a first draft. The vocabulary pays off when you review the result, because terms like ‘visual hierarchy’ or ‘ghost button’ let you say exactly what’s off instead of starting over. Use both: let the AI draft, then use the right terms to refine.
Q: How do you pick a better option when the difference is tone or humor?
Two people can reasonably prefer different versions of a witty line, so there’s no single correct answer here. Instead of hunting for the ‘right’ one, name the quality you’re after, like warmer, drier, or less salesy. That gives the AI a clear target and helps you figure out your own taste.
Q: Should I talk to AI like a person or use precise terms?
Some people get great results by chatting with an AI the way they would with a coworker, giving background and the reason behind the request. Others find that short, precise instructions work better, since vague feedback like ‘make it look better’ gives the model too little to go on. These two styles don’t really conflict. You can explain the context in plain language and still name the exact change you want.
Learn the vocabulary for better AI prompts
by u/_Kneel_down_ in PromptEngineering