The unsung value of the 'Redo effect'
The nature of AI prompting gives you the ability to redo a lot of work in a little bit of time. Here's how to maximize that.
Revisions used to be a slow, soul-draining grind. Whether you were rewriting copy, tweaking a design, or building a fictional world, every change required time, effort, and emotional fortitude. And the worst part? If your revisions still sucked, the choice was to tweak further or start over at painstaking cost.
But AI has fundamentally changed the balance of these decisions. And we can largely credit that to what I’ve begun calling ‘the redo effect’—the lever for generating fresh variations in an instant.
Key Takeaways
The redo effect in AI reduces revision bottlenecks, making iteration faster
AI empowers us to generate multiple versions almost instantly, unlocking more possibilities
The key is in rewiring our brains to embrace faster iteration and while alleviating our discomfort with throwing away drafts
It fundamentally shifts how we approach iteration. A copywriter agonizing over a paragraph? AI can generate five variations in a heartbeat. A designer stuck on a logo concept? Spin out three new ones at the drop of a hat. The ability to (speedily) redo removes decision paralysis and, in the larger scheme, opens up a new way of working—provided we’re open to it.
Let’s talk about what the redo effect offers us, how we rewire our brains (to embrace experimentation and overcome our fears of starting from scratch), and what revision can look like in the age of AI.
Eliminating the sunk-cost fallacy
Before AI, revision was nothing if not a bottleneck. A necessary evil. A fun and inexpensive way to build passive aggression among teammates. Now, instead of trying to salvage a weak draft, I can generate something new (read: potentially far better) in seconds.
As much as this can save time, it also builds creative confidence. Instead of going sideways with line revisions that fit a sub-par outline, we can leap forward to the promise of something wildly different with 2x’ing our time. And if we manage to leap backward (which happens), we can redo it again.
The compounding effects of iteration
The benefits of the redo effect go far beyond the time saved on a single task. Repeated iteration multiplies the efficiency of any creative process. AI gives us a tool for exploring more ideas—at greater depths—in less time. While it may be invisible to our AI partner, every cycle of refinement sharpens our sense of what we’re building. It eliminates weak points, enhances clarity, and polishes our understanding of the intended goal.
Consider a novelist brainstorming a plot twist. Before AI, ideating the directions of a crucial scene might take hours. With AI, we can generate multiple ideas instantly, compare them, and cherry-pick the best elements. Instead of one iteration, we can go through five. Over time, that compounding efficiency means higher quality work and a less painful creative process.
Yes, this means throwing away versions
We hesitate to discard work we’ve invested time in. The more effort that goes into something, the harder it is to let it go, even when it’s not quite right. Which is to say, AI helps with the mental block by making this process more frictionless, but the humans in us still need to get comfortable with it.
When creating a draft takes seconds instead of hours, there’s no reason to cling to something just because you spent time on it. The first version is rarely the best. The magic happens in iteration—trying, discarding, and trying again until you land on something great. After all, creativity isn’t (and has never been) about getting it right the first time.
Working with the redo effect
On its own, the redo effect allows for some fundamental shifts in how we work. Here’s how we can work it for the maximum effect.
Redo parts while keeping the whole intact
A redo doesn’t always mean starting from scratch. I frequently refine one section of a larger piece. Which means isolating specific areas for improvement while preserving what already works.1
A good analogy for this is replacing a single guitar string. When one string breaks, the entire instrument is wholly unusable (especially if it’s the high-E and you’re playing “Happy Birthday”). Swapping in a fresh one restores harmony without altering the rest of the setup. AI offers the same advantage in creative work, making this approach especially useful for longer forms of work. A weak introduction or a lackluster call to action can be reworked independently, enhancing the piece without unnecessary effort.
A little change (to your prompt) goes a long way
Even small prompt adjustments can lead to dramatically different outcomes. Think of it like adjusting the seasoning in a dish. If the flavor feels off, a pinch of salt, a squeeze of lemon, or a dash of spice can bring everything into balance. Prompting works similarly—a small tweak can reshape the final result.
Any of the following prompt tweaks can transform AI-generated content in ways that feel entirely fresh:
A slight change in phrasing
A new overarching directive
Asking for a shift in tone or perspective
As an example, tweaking a prompt from “write a formal email” to “write a casual, friendly email” shifts the tone instantly. Minor refinements can bring major leaps in how responses hit (or miss) our mark.
How different processes leverage the redo effect
Let’s look at this a little more practically. Here are a handful of processes, with how revision workflows looked before AI, and what they look like now:
Writing copy
For writing copy, the process has transformed from a slow, rigid drafting cycle into something far more fluid. Previously, crafting multiple versions of headlines, email subject lines, or product descriptions required hours. And the feedback on those versions resulted in more hours of minor adjustments (many of which didn’t necessarily improve the final product).
Now, instead of agonizing over a single phrase, AI allows writers to act on feedback instantly, exploring small tweaks with ease. The result is sharper, more effective messaging without the usual creative bottlenecks.
Designing something new
In design work, iteration has gone from a painstakingly slow process to an explosion of creative possibilities. Previously, refining brand elements, UI designs, or ad creative was forced to go something like this:
I come up with 2-3 core visions, each of which are expressed as a raw vision
We lock into one or maybe two, and deliver upon the required tedium of manual adjustments.
If we want to take a fork in the road later in the process, there goes our deadline.
But now, AI chat can help us brainstorm written versions of multiple concepts (the raw vision) in seconds, and AI-assisted tools generate fleshed-out design concepts in minutes. That means designers can focus on getting to the best ideas, with this shift allowing designers to offer stakeholders a broader range of options without extending timelines.
Creating research briefs
Gathering research for a new project used to be a fragmented, time-consuming process. Sifting through articles, compiling notes, and structuring findings into a cohesive brief often meant hours of manual effort—only to realize gaps in the information later.
Instead of wrestling with unstructured data, researchers can generate summaries, highlight key trends, and organize insights in real time. Don’t like how the competitive landscape overview is structured? Do it again with the click of a button. Not to mention, chase down alternative angles, more impactful word choices and even alter structure on demand. This frees up time to focus on analysis rather than composition.
Developing products
When it comes to product development, prototyping used to be a slow, linear process. Testing a new feature or user flow meant creating one version at a time, gathering feedback, and making incremental adjustments—often leading to a drawn-out development cycle.
AI has changed that by enabling teams to generate and test multiple prototypes simultaneously, compare different variations, and refine them in parallel. This not only accelerates the development process but also leads to better, more user-friendly experiences.
Writing business plans
Writing a business plan has also shifted from a slow, tedious editing process to one of rapid refinement. Structuring a proposal or pitch used to involve multiple drafts, painstaking revisions, and analysis paralysis over how to frame key sections.
Now, AI can suggest alternative structures or templates, refine and expand sections on demand, and highlight areas that need improvement.
The real shift isn’t in technology; it’s in how we rethink revision, iteration, and creativity. Next time you create something, instead of grinding through endless tweaks, try generating multiple versions. Compare. Experiment. Iterate. Combine.
But there’s a less obvious pattern here: the deepest value of the redo effect is in reducing opportunity cost. Instead of tweaking something that isn’t working, we have the power (and time) for wholesale makeovers until we land on the best possible version. Which, literally, changes everything.
The final third of this article was originally sub-titled “How different creators can leverage the redo effect” (it was also more bullet points, less paragraphs). Then I pivoted to look at the processes instead, a quick pivot with the below prompt.
Instead of breaking this content up by role (product manager, marketer), try to break it up by workflow, like writing copy or designing something new, or writing a business plan or creating a social media content calendar.
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