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Rifat Amin, Oliver Hans KÃ¼hle, Daniel Buschek, Andreas Butz
Structuring Prompt Construction as a Tool for Thought
CHI'26 Workshop on Tools for Thought. ACM. New York, NY, USA. 2026. (bib)

We present PromptCanvas, a Tool for Thought-oriented design strategy that reframes prompt construction as an explicit cognitive activity. PromptCanvas combines a canvas-based workspace with prompt-construction widgets that externalizes parts of a prompt as manipulable, persistent artifacts. The canvas supports accumulation and comparison of intermediate reasoning, while widgets structure how users explore, refine, and consolidate prompt formulations. Together, these interface mechanisms support divergent and convergent modes of thought as well as metacognitive reflection on how prompt structure shapes AI behavior. Findings from our user studies provide empirical evidence that this design supports meaningful intermediary artifacts, improves users' understanding and sense of control, and encourages deliberate reasoning over conversational prompting. We discuss PromptCanvas as a transferable design and usage strategy for building Tools for Thought with generative AI.