ELI5 Turns Explanations Into Picture Stories
An Anthropic staffer's compact skill prompt asks Claude to replace jargon-heavy answers with a visual HTML artifact built from big pictures and very few words.
The 60-second version
The ELI5 pattern asks Claude to turn a topic into a beginner-first HTML artifact led by large visuals and minimal text.
Key points
- It removes hidden prerequisites instead of merely swapping jargon for simpler words.
- One idea per scene lowers working-memory load and makes sequence and relationships visible.
- A reusable version should define its audience, scene count, jargon rule, evidence boundary, and render checks.
- The public demo verifies the format; frequent internal Anthropic use remains a self-reported claim.
Verdict. Use visual ELI5 as the front door to complexity, not as permission to erase precision or caveats.
The short versionThe trick is changing the medium
Thariq, who identifies himself as working on Claude Code at Anthropic, shared a compact pattern: `/eli5 <topic>`. The instruction assumes a complete beginner and asks Claude for an HTML artifact with big pictures and few words.
That is more specific than ‘make it simple.’ It changes the output from a compressed essay into a guided visual journey. The attached demo explains a Discord bot as a sequence of illustrated scenes instead of a wall of architecture prose.
Why it worksPictures reduce invisible mental work
Technical prose often makes a beginner hold several undefined objects in memory at once. A visual sequence can introduce the objects first, then reveal their relationships and order. Arrows show movement; position shows grouping; short captions explain only what matters in that scene.
| Audience rule | Assume no prior knowledge, but do not use a childish tone. |
|---|---|
| Scene rule | Introduce one mechanism or relationship at a time. |
| Language rule | Define every necessary term at first use; remove the rest. |
| Accuracy rule | Label analogies as analogies and preserve the real mechanism underneath. |
| Delivery rule | Render and inspect the HTML instead of stopping after writing code. |
ELI5 is not ‘use smaller words.’ It is ‘remove hidden prerequisites.’
Build your ownA stronger reusable prompt
A useful skill needs an audience, a format, and acceptance checks. A practical version can say: Explain [topic] to a reader with no background. Build a responsive HTML artifact with four to seven picture-led scenes, one idea per scene, short captions, and no unexplained jargon. Separate analogy from mechanism. End with a recap and verify the rendered page.
- 1. Name the beginner: a new customer, a junior engineer, a student, or a policymaker.
- 2. Name the desired decision: understand, compare, troubleshoot, or act.
- 3. Demand a visual sequence, not decorative images around an essay.
- 4. Require a source and caveat pass before polishing the page.
- 5. Open the artifact and check mobile layout, legibility, clipping, and broken interactions.
Use with careSimple must not become incomplete
The format is strongest for architecture, onboarding, workflows, and conceptual overviews. For equations, contracts, medical advice, or security procedures, the visual version should be a front door—not the only record. Link to the exact formula, source text, evidence, or runbook beneath it.