Plan a staged rollout with a hold rule and a holiday freeze

About this exercise

You're rolling a new checkout design out to customers in stages and need the plan for your launch channel. You want exactly 4 numbered lines in date order, each as date - percent of customers - check before moving on, under 50 words, plain text. Follow the 3-day hold rule between stages and the company's holiday freeze, which blocks one date. Write a prompt that gets you exactly that.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

• Keeping the draft plan. The draft puts 100% on Dec 24, inside the freeze. Try: Add: "No changes Dec 22 - Jan 2; move 100% to Jan 3 or later."
• Forgetting the hold rule. The AI moves stages every day or two. Try: Add: "Hold each stage at least 3 days."
• Dropping the check. The AI lists dates and percents but not what to check. Try: Add: "Each line: the check before moving on."
• Letting the AI pick the layout. The AI writes a table with notes. Try: Be exact: "Exactly 4 numbered lines, plain text."
• Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting. Ask for "under 50 words" and it often lands well over. Try: Cap each part instead: "each line under 8 words."

What a strong prompt includes

• Says how many lines
• Mentions the freeze
• States the hold rule
• Asks for the check
• Sets a word limit

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