Effects of Prompt Elements on Problem-Solving Performance and User Experience: Insights from ChatGPT Interactions

Creative problem solving (CPS), a cognitive and affective system, generates innovative solutions. The integration of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools, such as ChatGPT, with CPS processes has transformed the field, particularly through prompt engineering. Despite the proliferation of generative AI and the prompts that go with it, previous research has only defined their effectiveness and explored their implementation. This study is the first to investigate the influence of prompt elements on CPS performance and the user experience, as measured by user satisfaction and emotional arousal, in interactions with generative AI. We measured five prompt elements: contextual assignment, number of prompts, assigned persona, output format designation, and critical attitude. Data from a ChatGPT prompting contest at a South Korean university were analyzed using mixed-methods to examine the impact of these elements on problem-solving performance and the user experience. The results show that contextual assignments and the number of prompts positively affect CPS performance, whereas assigned personas influence user satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Additionally, the satisfied user group performs CPS at a higher level than that of the dissatisfied group. These findings provide insights into the use of ChatGPT prompts to improve CPS performance and facilitate human–AI collaboration.