Turn an engineering changelog into customer release notes

About this exercise

This month's release notes go in the in-app 'What's new' panel for small-business customers. You want at most 4 bullets, under 80 words, plain text, starting with the fix that drove the most support tickets. Customers shouldn't see ticket numbers, internal-only changes, engineering terms, or the feature that was rolled back.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

• Saying 'write release notes'. The AI turns every changelog line into a bullet, often with bold headings like 'New' and 'Fixed'. Try: Limit it: "At most 4 bullets. Plain text, no headings."
• Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting. Ask for a total word limit and it often lands over it. Try: Cap each bullet instead: "each bullet one sentence under 15 words."
• Not leading with what matters. The AI follows the changelog order or puts new features first. Try: Add: "Start with the invoice PDF fix, our biggest support issue."
• Not saying who reads it. The AI keeps ticket IDs and engineering words because it doesn't know customers will see it. Try: Add: "For small-business customers. No ticket numbers, no technical terms."
• Including what isn't live. The rolled-back feature is still in the changelog, so the AI announces it. Try: Add: "Skip anything internal-only or rolled back, and don't mention multi-currency."

What a strong prompt includes

• Says who reads it
• Limits the bullets
• Puts the big fix first
• Leaves out internal items
• Sets a word limit

Practice this now ↑

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