by Ali Hassan
20 November 2025
I spent this summer interning for GAINS, and one of my projects was auditing its website. This was very different from anything I had done before.
In the past, I only helped friends with their small business sites, side hustles, or hobby pages. Those were low-stakes and flexible. I could suggest big overhauls: new layouts, fresh branding ideas, or even rewriting entire sections. Auditing GAINS, though, came with more responsibility. It had to fit within a larger institutional context while staying true to GAINS’ goals.
Understanding the Site’s Purpose
Before diving in, I spoke with my mentors and carefully reviewed the existing site. It helped me see how much thought had already gone into GAINS’ identity, which made me want to build on it thoughtfully.
From those conversations, I learned the site needed to:
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Give our university community a space to engage thoughtfully with AI in academic and ethical contexts.
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Share resources that make it easier for faculty, staff, and students to use AI productively in their work.
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Feel approachable and connected to the people behind GAINS.
I remember realizing during this stage that the site was not just informational. It was also a reflection of the culture GAINS had built: collaborative, curious, and welcoming.
How I Used Claude
To approach this systematically, I used the prompt refinement protocol from AI Black Magic, a resource I recommend for its practical guidance. I wrote my goals in plain language, then built them into a clear, structured prompt paired with page URLs.
This gave me suggestions for:
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Improving clarity for readers who might not be tech-focused.
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Making key resources and contact points more visible.
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Recognizing contributors and their work meaningfully.
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Ensuring content could be indexed and found easily in searches.
When Claude flagged that an important link was buried several clicks deep, it clicked for me how easily someone might miss it. That kind of feedback made the audit feel concrete and actionable.
I compiled these notes into a shared document. Our intern team and mentors, Dr. Jonathan Woon, Dr. Melissa Lanos, and Marcus Landas reviewed them with me. This collaborative editing grounded each change in GAINS’ mission and what made sense institutionally. Seeing how our combined efforts simplified the site navigation was a clear sign we were on the right track.
Why This Matters for Our Community
For many people, a website is their first contact with a program like GAINS. It needs to be clear, approachable, and easy to navigate.
If you are involved in any departmental or program site, ask yourself:
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Could someone new find the most important links in under three clicks?
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Are upcoming events, resources, and people easy to locate?
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Does the site encourage visitors to reach out or get involved?
After making these updates, I noticed how much smoother it felt to navigate even as someone already familiar with GAINS. That confirmed how small, targeted changes can have an immediate impact.
Actionable Claude.ai Prompting Tips for Administrative and Productivity Tasks
Working on this audit reminded me that AI tools like Claude are just as helpful for day-to-day support work as they are for larger projects. Many of the same prompting skills I used for the website also translate directly into managing emails, tasks, and office routines.
Here are practical ways to use Claude to save time on everyday support and administrative tasks:
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Email Drafting and Polishing
Prompt: “Write a friendly reminder email to a faculty member about an overdue form. Keep it polite and under 100 words.”
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Meeting Scheduling and Calendar Prep
Prompt: “Create a simple agenda for a 30-minute staff meeting that covers updates, deadlines, and upcoming events.”
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Time Management and Prioritization
Prompt: “Take this task list [paste tasks] and sort it into urgent, important, and low-priority categories for today.”
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Document Summaries
Prompt: “Summarize this five-page policy document into key action points for staff. Limit it to 150 words.”
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Template Creation
Prompt: “Draft a standard template for booking shared spaces that includes date, time, purpose, and equipment needs.”
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Process Checklists
Prompt: “Make a step-by-step checklist for onboarding new student workers, including paperwork and system logins.”
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Simple Automations
Prompt: “Explain how to set up an Outlook rule to auto-forward emails with ‘Budget Approval’ in the subject to the finance officer.”
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Reminder Systems
Prompt: “Create a recurring reminder plan for monthly reports, quarterly reviews, and annual evaluations.”