J. D. Zamfirescu-Pereira, Richmond Y. Wong, Bjoern Hartmann, & Qian Yang (2023)
Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1-21.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3581388
Abstract. Zamfirescu-Pereira et al.'s foundational study (echoing Whitten-Tygar's "Why Johnny Can't Encrypt") of how non-expert users fail at prompt design — systematic over-specification, anthropomorphic prompting, and inability to debug failures. Frequently cited in modern prompt-design UX.
Tags: ai-usability prompt-engineering llm foundational