Nick Perry shows why Claude often gives generic answers and introduces ODAF: Outcome, Data, Action, Format. He walks through examples like writing a firm email for an unpaid invoice, then extracting contact details into a three-column table. The framework turns vague requests into specific instructions Claude can actually follow.
Most people use Claude Cowork and wonder why their output looks generic. Because Cowork is not like normal chat. The quality of the output depends a lot more on how clearly you define the task. So use these 4 letters to do so. O is outcome. Tell Claude what done looks like. So instead of saying, "Help me write this email," say something like, "Write me a follow-up email to a client who hasn't paid an invoice in 14 days." Keep it polite but firm. One paragraph. D is data. Give Claude the actual file, like the invoice, contract, or Slack thread. Then A is for action. Go. Don't tell Claude to look at the files that you sent, but instruct it on how to use them. Like getting the contact email and phone number from the invoice. Finally, F is for format. Tell Claude how the output should look. So instead of saying summarize it, tell it to give you a table with 3 columns and 1 paragraph at the top.
