Write a deep-research brief for buying office chairs

About this exercise

Your office manager asked you to use a deep-research tool to find ergonomic chairs: 25 chairs, at most $400 each, delivered before January 15, and no affiliate "best of" lists or sponsored reviews as sources. Write the brief as exactly 5 numbered lines labeled Goal:, Must have:, Sources:, Exclude: and Output:, where Output: asks for a table with Price, Warranty, Delivery date and Source columns. Plain text, under 110 words.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

• Asking for recommendations. The AI lists chairs from memory instead of writing instructions for the research tool. Try: Say: "Write a brief for a deep-research tool, not a list of chairs."
• Leaving out the hard limits. Without them the tool returns $1,200 chairs that ship in March. Try: Add: "25 chairs, at most $400 each, delivered before January 15."
• Forgetting the team's complaints. The no-mesh request and the warranty rule are buried in your notes. Try: Add: "Must have: lumbar, adjustable arms and height, 5-year warranty, no mesh seat."
• Not banning bad sources. Research tools love affiliate "top 10" lists. Try: Add: "Exclude affiliate best-of lists and sponsored reviews."
• Long or formatted output. The AI writes a long brief with bold headings. Try: Add: "Exactly 5 numbered lines, each under 20 words, plain text."

What a strong prompt includes

• Asks for a brief, not the research
• States the hard limits
• Bans bad sources
• Names the 5 labels
• Asks for a table

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