Opal Chat and Prompt Engineering

In this module, you’ll get a quick introduction to the Opal Chat, which is your main space for interacting with Opal and making the most of its capabilities using simple prompts.

After completing this module you should be able to:

• Understand the purpose and usage of the Opal Chat interface.
• Navigate the areas and core components of the chat UI.
• Master prompt engineering to generate high-impact content.
• Use text-to-image generation feature to create and edit images.

Opal Chat user interface

Depending on your organization and product access, you can access Opal Chat in several places across the Optimizely platform. The most common way to access Opal is through Opal website. Go to opal.optimizely.com and login to your instance using Opti ID. You land on the Opal Chat user interface automatically as soon as you successfully login.

The following link will walk you through the Opal Chat user interface.

Prompt Engineering fundamentals

If you want to make the most of Optimizely Opal, you need to communicate your requests clearly and effectively. Prompt engineering involves crafting precise prompts to get the best results. You can boost Optimizely Opal's ability to support your marketing and product development work with a few simple principles.

Key principles of effective prompting

• Clarity and specificity – Just like giving instructions to a human assistant, clarity and specificity are crucial for Opal Chat. Avoid vague or ambiguous language. The more precise you are with your request, the more accurate and relevant Optimizely Opal's response is.
  • Instead of – Tell me about marketing.
  • Try – Generate a list of content marketing strategies for e-commerce businesses targeting Gen Z.
• Context and background – Provide relevant context and background information to help Optimizely Opal understand your request better. This can include details about your target audience, campaign objectives, brand guidelines, or specific Optimizely functionalities you want to utilize.
  • Instead of – Create a campaign brief.
  • Try – Create a campaign brief for a new product launch targeting millennials, with a budget of $10,000, focusing on social media channels, and aligning with our brand's sustainability values.
• Desired output format – Specify the desired format for Optimizely Opal's response, such as a list, a paragraph, a table, or code. This information helps Optimizely Opal structure its output in a manner that is useful to you.
  • Instead of – Analyze our A/B test results.
  • Try – Analyze the A/B test results for the homepage banner, comparing variations A and B, and provide a table summarizing the click-through rate, conversion rate, and statistical significance for each variation.
• Iterative refinement – Do not expect the perfect response on the first try. Prompt engineering is an iterative process. Start with a general prompt, then refine it based on Optimizely Opal's initial response. Experiment with different phrasings, keywords, and levels of detail to fine-tune the output.
• Examples and demonstrations – Provide examples or demonstrations of the desired output to improve Optimizely Opal's understanding. You can refer to past campaigns, content pieces, or reports as templates for Optimizely Opal.
  • Instead of – Write a blog post about A/B testing.
  • Try – Write a blog post about A/B testing, similar in style and tone to the example provided in this link: [link to example blog post]. Focus on the benefits of A/B testing for Optimizely Experimentation users.

Tips for effective prompting

• Be clear and specific in your requests.
• Provide context and background information.
• Use examples to illustrate the desired output.
• Break down complex tasks into smaller, more manageable steps.

Example prompts for Optimizely Opal

• Generate a list of keywords related to 'artificial intelligence' with a monthly search volume greater than 1000, suitable for use in Optimizely Content Marketing.
• Given the customer data in the attached Optimizely Data Platform (ODP) segment, create a targeted email campaign promoting our new product line.
• Analyze the performance of our recent campaign in Optimizely CMP, identifying the top-performing channels and providing recommendations for optimization.
• Using Optimizely Feature Experimentation, create a feature flag for our new checkout flow and suggest a rollout plan for A/B testing.

Image generation in Opal Chat

Opal isn’t limited to producing text; it can turn your ideas into visuals. You can use Opal Chat to create original images by sending a descriptive prompt. This feature is useful for tasks like producing illustrations, generating marketing visuals, creating concept art, or producing diagrams and mockups. Opal uses generate_image tool, powered by Google Imagen4, to create high-quality images.

Opal can also handle variations and refinements. You can ask it to change colors, adjust composition, apply a particular artistic style, or generate multiple alternatives from the same prompt.

Create images

To generate a new image, send Opal a prompt describing what you want to create. You can also include the following optional parameters to customize the result:

• Prompt – Description of the image you want to generate. More detail leads to better results.
• Aspect ratio – Shape of the generated image. If not specified, Opal uses 1:1. Choose from the following:
  • 1:1 (Square) – Good for profile pictures or Instagram posts.
  • 4:3 (Standard landscape) – Common for older TVs or digital cameras.
  • 16:9 (Widescreen landscape) – Standard for modern TVs, YouTube videos, and presentations.
  • 9:16 (Vertical portrait) – Ideal for Instagram Stories, TikTok, and mobile content.
• Number of images – Total number of image variations to generate. You can request up to four. If you do not specify, Opal generates one.

Note: Be as specific as possible in your prompt to get the best results. Include details like style, lighting, background, or mood.

Example prompt – Generate 2 images of a picturesque hill landscape with a 16:9 aspect ratio.

Click Regenerate to create a new set of images. You can also prompt Opal to adjust the images it created.

Example prompt – Update the images you just created and add some trees to the landscape.

Edit images

With Opal Chat, you can edit images by linking to their URL. In your request, you can include the following parameters:

• Image URL – Link to the image you want Opal to edit.
• Prompt – Instructions for how you want Opal to edit the image. Be as specific as possible. For example, you can ask Opal the following:
  • Add or remove objects.
  • Change the background.
  • Change the aspect ratio.
  • Adjust colors, lighting, or composition.
  • Change the style or mood.
• Number of images – Total variations of the edited image to generate. You can request up to four.

Example prompt – Edit the image: LINK_TO_IMAGE*.* Update the style to cartoonish, change the mood to be happier, and give 4 variations.