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Generating Experience Notation Journeys with LLMs

Overview

Structured prompting refers to crafting LLM prompts that guide the model to return predictable, well-formed outputs. Experience Notation is particularly suited for this purpose thanks to its consistent block syntax, defined EBNF grammar, and human-readability.

This guide demonstrates how to prompt large language models to produce .expn journeys directly.

Why Use Experience Notation in Prompts?

  • Encourages models to produce structured, multi-step outputs
  • Helps LLMs represent flows, personas, and decision logic
  • Reduces the ambiguity of natural language-only tasks
  • Can be validated against the EBNF grammar

Prompt Strategy: Providing Structure

LLMs respond more accurately when the output format is suggested explicitly.

Including the full EBNF grammar or a simplified form of the Experience Notation structure can:

  • Reduce hallucinated fields
  • Improve field ordering and indentation
  • Help the model understand block hierarchy

Option A: Full EBNF Embedding

💡 Recommended when tokens are not an issue. Include the complete EBNF specification in the prompt for maximum structural fidelity.

You are a UX modeller. Generate an Experience Notation journey from the scenario below.
Use the EBNF grammar that follows to guide the structure.

Scenario:
A new user signs up, verifies their email, and logs into the platform.

---
EBNF Specification:
[Insert full EBNF grammar here]

Option B: Minimal Format Hint

Use a format hint like this at the end of your prompt:

Each step follows this structure:
Step:
  User: [persona name]
  Action: [what the user does]
  UI-Element: [interface they interact with]
  Conditional:
    IF: [condition]
    THEN: [result]
    ELSE: [alternative result]

Prompt Example: Zero-Shot

You are a UX modeller. Describe the following onboarding flow using Experience Notation:

Scenario:
A user visits a website, signs up with email, confirms via email link, and logs in.

Return the output in `.expn` format. Use clear indentation and syntax blocks.

Sample Output

Journey-Title: Basic Onboarding
Journey-Description: A user signs up and logs into the platform

Event: Sign Up
  Step: Enter details
    User: New Visitor
    Action: Fills out name and email
    UI-Element: Signup Form

  Step: Submit form
    User: New Visitor
    Action: Clicks "Register"
    UI-Element: Signup Form

Prompt Example: Few-Shot Completion

Here’s a partial Experience Notation journey. Complete the next event using the same format.

EBNF-Version: 1.1
Syntax-Version: 1.0
Journey-Title: Support Ticket

Event: Submit Issue
  Step: Describe problem
    User: Frustrated Customer
    Action: Types issue into support form
    UI-Element: Contact Page

[Continue with next event...]

Tips

  • Always anchor to EBNF-Version: 1.1 and Syntax-Version: 1.0 if possible
  • Use delimiters or triple backticks to frame outputs
  • Be specific about persona names and UI interactions
  • When tokens allow, embed the full EBNF grammar
  • Start with a minimal version for lightweight prompting, then scale

Continue to Roleplaying Personas to explore how Experience Notation enables agent simulation.