Find the edge cases and failure states in my feature spec
A structured list of edge cases, empty and error states, and open questions to settle before engineering starts.
The prompt
Review my feature spec and find the edge cases and failure states we have not covered.
Feature spec or user flow: [PASTE SPEC, STORIES, OR FLOW STEPS]
Platforms: [web / iOS / Android / API]
User types and permissions: [e.g. admin, member, guest, free vs. paid]
Integrations or data it depends on: [SYSTEMS, THIRD PARTIES]
Check systematically across these lenses:
- Data: empty, one item, huge volumes, duplicates, special characters, very long text, deleted or archived records.
- Users and permissions: role changes mid-flow, shared accounts, removed users, plan downgrades.
- Timing: concurrent edits, slow or lost connection, timeouts, retries, double-clicks, time zones, daylight saving.
- States: first-time use, partially completed flows, undo, cancel, back button, session expiry.
- Dependencies: third-party outage, rate limits, failed payments or syncs.
- Migration: existing users and data when this ships.
- Accessibility and localization: keyboard-only, screen readers, right-to-left, text expansion.
Return:
1. A table: Scenario | What happens today per the spec (or "undefined") | Recommended behavior | Severity (high / medium / low).
2. The 5 open questions I must answer before development, in priority order.
3. Acceptance criteria to add for the high-severity cases, in Given/When/Then format.
Only flag cases relevant to this feature; skip generic padding.
Highlighted [brackets] are blanks to replace with your own details.
Fill in the blanks and use this promptMore Product & UX Design prompts
What to fill in
- PASTE SPEC, STORIES, OR FLOW STEPS
- web / iOS / Android / API
- e.g. admin, member, guest, free vs. paid
- SYSTEMS, THIRD PARTIES
How this prompt is built
This prompt follows the RTF structure (Role, Task, Format). RTF tells the model who to be, what to do and what shape the answer should take. It is the quickest structure that still gives noticeably better results than a bare request.
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