0
Systematically A/B two prompt variants instead of eyeballing outputs
I have two versions of a prompt for task_description and I want a rigorous comparison, not a vibes-based 'this one sounds better'. Given both prompt variants and n representative test inputs:
1. Before generating any outputs, state 2-4 concrete criteria you'll judge by, specific to this task (not generic 'quality'), and for each, how you'll detect it in an output (a presence/absence check, a count, a structural property).
2. Run both prompts against each test input (or reason about what each would produce if you can't execute code) and score each output against every criterion, showing your scoring, not just a final verdict.
3. Report per-criterion win/loss/tie counts across all inputs, not just an overall 'variant A is better' impression, since a prompt can win on one axis and lose on another.
4. Flag any input where the two variants produced meaningfully different outputs for a reason unrelated to your criteria (e.g. one variant happened to get a lucky/unlucky example), so I don't over-attribute that difference to the prompt wording itself.
5. Give a final recommendation with the specific tradeoff named, not just a winner declared.
Variant A: prompt_a
Variant B: prompt_b
Test inputs: test_inputs