---
schema: 1
type: term
title: _blank canvas problem_
description: >-
  The **_blank canvas problem_** is the situation where a user opens a chat with
  an AI model and, facing an empty input box, doesn't know what to ask. In the
  channel's material, it is addressed by giving users something concrete to
  start from — most notably pre-built project templates.
canonical: >-
  https://liquidgold.cc/channel/everyinc/explore/term/blank-canvas-problem-de79a3af86b9
markdown: >-
  https://liquidgold.cc/channel/everyinc/explore/term/blank-canvas-problem-de79a3af86b9.md
llms: null
parent: 'https://liquidgold.cc/channel/everyinc/llms.txt'
channel: everyinc
updated: '2026-10-23T22:12:35.346Z'
language: null
children: []
---


# \_blank canvas problem\_

Canonical: https://liquidgold.cc/channel/everyinc/explore/term/blank-canvas-problem-de79a3af86b9

Parent: [Channel index](https://liquidgold.cc/channel/everyinc/llms.txt)

## Definition

The **_blank canvas problem_** is the situation where a user opens a chat with an AI model and, facing an empty input box, doesn't know what to ask. In the channel's material, it is addressed by giving users something concrete to start from — most notably pre-built project templates.

In the conversation with Nick Dobos, creator of _Grimoire_, the **_blank canvas problem_** names a familiar moment: a person opens a chat, sees an empty input box, and doesn't know what to ask. [^01a0f15b-0f45-768a-aaa6-624609a19a42@1491] It's a *starting-state* problem, not a model-capability problem — the barrier is the user's first move, not the AI's ability to answer once prompted.Dobos treats the blank canvas as a packaging problem, solved by building structure directly into the prompt surface. His mechanisms include: - **Pre-built project templates** that give the user something concrete to start from, which he explicitly frames as the fix for the _blank canvas problem_; [^01a0f15b-0f45-768a-aaa6-624609a19a42@1491] - **Custom-instruction hotkeys**, which compress common actions into short commands; [^01a0f15b-0f45-768a-aaa6-624609a19a42@1491] - **Suggested follow-ups** that keep a chat moving instead of drifting into circular answers. [^01a0f15b-0f45-768a-aaa6-624609a19a42@891]Within the channel's broader prompt-engineering material, the _blank canvas problem_ is an example of **prompt design as product design**: the prompt surface itself can curate the user's first step. That fits the theme that structure — templates, routing, curation — steers outcomes better than a bare chat box, because the hardest part of getting a good output is often knowing what to request in the first place.- The **_blank canvas problem_** is when users open a chat and don't know what to ask. - Dobos solves it with **pre-built project templates**, plus hotkeys and suggested follow-ups. [^01a0f15b-0f45-768a-aaa6-624609a19a42@1491] - It shows prompt packaging — not just prompt wording — as part of the discipline. [^01a0f15b-0f45-768a-aaa6-624609a19a42@891]