Visual Hermeneutic Prompting: an AI-assisted approach for Analysis & Design modelling

GenAI tools, such as ChatGPT, represent a profound pedagogical disruption to how analytical and modelling skills are taught in Information Systems. GenAI debates rarely foreground the practices and perspectives of high-performing students who often pioneer new forms of academic engagement. This research paper reports on findings from a 4-month applied research project (July–October 2025) in which a second-year undergraduate student (first author) and an academic mentor (second author) conducted a structured series of Analysis & Design modelling experiments, producing four diagram types across three business scenarios. These diagram types were produced using an AI-assisted approach (the Prompt-Only approach, the Draft approach, the Final Diagram Feedback approach). Our findings show that the Draft approach emerges as the optimal workflow for an Analysis & Design student, with ambitions of becoming an effective Business Analyst. This iterative human–AI interpretive cycle evolves into a methodological pattern we define as Visual Hermeneutic Prompting (VHP).