7.2 — Adjusting Your Approach Based on Feedback and Results

CCAO-F Domain 7 · Task 7.2

What You Need to Know

An adjustment round means changing a request, running it again and judging the output. Three parts make it systematic:

1. Change One Thing at a Time

One change at a time shows what fixed the output. A bundled change looks efficient until you need a second good result — and nobody knows which of the three worked.

2. Hold the Test Input Fixed

A new prompt tried on a new document tells you nothing, because two things moved. Holding the test input fixed makes round-to-round comparison meaningful. Editing an earlier message creates a different version of the chat with its own artifacts.

3. State the Criterion Before You Look

“Better” is not a criterion. “A customer can find the total price in five seconds” is. Stating it in advance stops your judgement drifting towards whatever the new draft happens to do well.

Feedback Arrives from Readers, Not Just the Text

A colleague says the tone is off. A manager returns a draft. A reader asks the same clarifying question three times. These usually locate the gap more precisely than re-reading the text yourself.

Know When to Stop Adjusting

When several well-aimed rounds have not moved the output, the assumption that the approach is right has failed. The third failed adjustment is a signal to go back to 7.1’s cause list and re-diagnose. A fourth round of slightly different words tests the same failed assumption.

Exam Traps

• The shotgun fix dressed as decisiveness
• A fourth round of rewording after three aimed rounds moved nothing
• Testing the adjusted prompt on a different document and crediting the prompt