◆ MATLAB

Design and plan laboratory experiments

This is real work, not a feature someone invented — it comes from real job ads and real questions people asked. Below are four ready AI prompts: get it done, make it easy for the next person to say yes to, work out the right move when you are stuck, and stop it coming back.

4prompts
See the prompt↓All MATLAB tasks

The same task, four prompts

today's deadline · the next reviewer · the stuck moment · the pattern
AExecute — do the immediate taskGenerate a randomized block design for the new corrosion experiment, with three different…+
Generate a randomized block design for the new corrosion experiment, with three different surface treatments and four exposure times, ensuring each treatment-time combination has five replicates. Output the experimental matrix to a CSV file for the lab technicians.
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
BImprove — make it easier to acceptBefore I finalize the design for the new polymer degradation experiment, make sure it's…+
Before I finalize the design for the new polymer degradation experiment, make sure it's optimized to detect subtle differences between the UV exposure levels without requiring an excessive number of samples. Highlight any design choices that might introduce confounding variables or make statistical analysis difficult later on, so we get clear results.
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
CDecide — diagnose the stuck momentWe're designing an experiment to test a new coating's durability under various environmental…+
The new experiment has too many variables, and I'm not sure how to reduce the sample size.
We're designing an experiment to test a new coating's durability under various environmental conditions, but the number of factors (temperature, humidity, pH, abrasion cycles) means an unmanageable number of samples and cost. Dr. Evans is pushing for a smaller, more focused study, but I'm afraid of missing critical interactions. What's the best approach to reduce the experimental footprint while still capturing the most important effects and interactions, and what's the risk of simplifying too much?
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
DBecome — change the patternI often find myself second-guessing the sample size for new experiments, either over-sampling…+
I always struggle to justify the sample size in my experimental designs.
I often find myself second-guessing the sample size for new experiments, either over-sampling and wasting resources, or under-sampling and getting inconclusive results. This leads to delays when I have to re-run parts of a study. What habit could I change to more confidently determine the minimum effective sample size for my experiments, ensuring statistical power without unnecessary cost?
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?

Questions people actually ask

honest answers, no sign-up

Every task here was seen in the real world. Someone doing the job named it, a real job ad asked for it, or a lot of people asked about it online.

If nothing real showed a task, it is not on the page. That is the whole rule.

They are the same job approached four ways, because what you need depends on where you are.

Get it done today. Make it easy for the next person to say yes to. Work out the right move when you are stuck. Learn the pattern so the job stops coming back.

For most of these jobs it can carry the heavy thinking - draft it, sort it, check it, rehearse it with you.

It cannot sit in your chair, take the blame when a number is wrong, or notice what nobody wrote down. Let it do the first 80%. Keep the last 20% that is truly yours.

No. Copy any prompt and paste it into the AI you already use. No account, no score, no wall in the way.

Any of them. The prompts describe the work rather than naming a product, so they are not tied to one assistant.

That is also why they keep working when you switch.

Change it freely. Every prompt is a starting line, not a rule.

Put in your real numbers, your real names and your real deadline. The more you make it yours, the better the answer comes back.

The tasks come from real job ads, published job data and the questions people ask in public forums.

The steps come from MATLAB's own documentation, with practitioner sources for the traps the manual does not mention.

Push once. Ask it to sharpen the weakest part and to say what it assumed.

Most wrong answers come from a missing detail rather than a bad prompt - tell it the thing it could not know.